Erik Larsen, author of the bestselling book “In the Garden
of Beasts” provides another fascinating non-fiction work in The City of Black
and White, Story of Murder, Magic and Mystery of the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair.
Larsen presents this meticulously
researched account that brings the era to life.
The story begins with Daniel Burnham, one of the most famous
architects of his era whose dream is to secure Chicago as the site of a major
world’s fair. Burnham works hard to
secure the support of other famous East Coast architects to create a new city
within Chicago. Burnham along with
Fredrick Law Olmstead design a city which they hoped would be a prototype of
the ideal American City utilizing the best design and technology.
The story also weaves in the most infamous criminals of the
era and perhaps the first serial killer in America, Dr. H.H. Holmes. He was chameleon and con artist drawn to the Chicago World Exposition to prey
on single women who came to assist with the production of the fair. He created a hotel rigged for death and
concealment of his dastardly deeds.
The account is both spellbinding and heartbreaking. The fair is an epic triumph that almost
didn’t happen. Major features of modern fairs began at the Exposition including
the Ferris Wheel and Mid Way carnival entertainment. The mayor of Chicago plays a role in planning
and execution of the dream city. He too
is stalked by a mad man with tragic results.
The work is a fascinating study in of human aspiration and
depravity coexisting in the same city. A
must read for anyone in the fields of architecture or urban planning as the
work done for the fair shaped the next hundred years in these respective
fields. The book is a study in the
macabre and beauty which inhabited the “Gilded Age” in equal measure. I strongly recommend this spellbinding work
of non-fiction and look forward to reading Larsen’s latest effort Dead Wake
about the Lusitania about the sinking of the fabled passenger ship.
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