The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America

The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair that Changed America

• Genre: Nonfiction; historical; true crime
• Originally Published: 2003
• Reading Level/Interest: Lexile 1170L; college/adult
• Structure/Length: 4 parts, 53 chapters, prologue, and epilogue; approximately 447 pages; approximately 14 hours, 58 minutes on audio
• Central Concern: The Devil in the White City is a historical nonfiction work that weaves together two narratives set in Chicago during the late 19th century: the construction of the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition, also known as the Chicago World’s Fair; and the activities of H.H. Holmes, a man convicted of murder. The book explores the challenges faced by architects, including Daniel Burnham, in creating the magnificent fairgrounds; it also discusses the dark and sinister actions of Holmes.
• Potential Sensitivity Issues: Crime; violence; murder, including the murder of children; graphic details; mentions exploitation of marginalized groups; additionally, outside resources regarding the 1893 World’s Fair may discuss racism, prejudice, and discriminatory practices regarding the exposition’s management and exhibits.

Erik Larson, Author

• Bio: Born 1954; American journalist and author; studied Russian at the University of Pennsylvania and graduated summa cum laude; attended Columbia University for a graduate degree in journalism; attempted to publish fiction as he established a career in journalism; gained success as a writer of narrative historical nonfiction
• Other Works: In the Garden of Beasts: Love, Terror, and an American Family in Hitler’s Berlin (2011); Dead Wake: The last Crossing of the Lusitania (2015); The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz (2020)
• Awards: Edgar Award for Best Fact Crime (2004)  

CENTRAL THEMES connected and noted throughout this Teaching Guide:

• Journalism and Detective Work
• Magic and Mystery

STUDY OBJECTIVES: In accomplishing the components of this Teaching Guide, students will:

• Develop an understanding of the architectural and environmental importance of civic buildings and spaces that impact communities; learn about the 1893 World’s Columbian Exposition as the narrative’s setting and this event’s particular importance to Chicago. 
• Study paired texts and other brief resources to make connections via the text’s themes of Journalism and Detective Work and Magic and Mystery.
• Build and present a scale model of one of Burnham’s structures that demonstrates its architectural style and features; makes connections to the text using key quotations about or by Burnham. 
• Examine and appraise the author’s purpose and techniques to draw conclusions in structured essay responses regarding his juxtaposition of the book’s two main figures, the text’s structure, the aftermath of the 1893 World’s Fair, and other topics.