The Devil In The White City

The Devil In The White City
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 498
Release: 2010-09-30
Genre: History
ISBN: 1409044602

'An irresistible page-turner that reads like the most compelling, sleep defying fiction' TIME OUT One was an architect. The other a serial killer. This is the incredible story of these two men and their realization of the Chicago World's Fair of 1893, and its amazing 'White City'; one of the wonders of the world. The architect was Daniel H. Burnham, the driving force behind the White City, the massive, visionary landscape of white buildings set in a wonderland of canals and gardens. The killer was H. H. Holmes, a handsome doctor with striking blue eyes. He used the attraction of the great fair - and his own devilish charms - to lure scores of young women to their deaths. While Burnham overcame politics, infighting, personality clashes and Chicago's infamous weather to transform the swamps of Jackson Park into the greatest show on Earth, Holmes built his own edifice just west of the fairground. He called it the World's Fair Hotel. In reality it was a torture palace, a gas chamber, a crematorium. These two disparate but driven men are brought to life in this mesmerizing, murderous tale of the legendary Fair that transformed America and set it on course for the twentieth century . . .

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

Summary and Analysis of The Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America
Author: Worth Books
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 55
Release: 2017-02-21
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1504044223

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of The Devil in the White City tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Erik Larsons book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter summaries Detailed timeline of key events Important quotes Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson: The Devil in the White City is the electrifying true story of the 1893 World’s Fair in Chicago—and the serial killer who used it as his hunting ground. Meticulously researched and brimming with fascinating historical details, Larson’s bestselling book is a powerful amalgam of historical narrative and a true crime thriller. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

The Devil in the White City: by Erik Larson | Summary & Analysis

The Devil in the White City: by Erik Larson | Summary & Analysis
Author: Instaread
Publisher: Instaread Summaries
Total Pages:
Release: 2015-08-15
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:

The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson | Summary & Analysis Preview: The Devil in the White City is a book by Erik Larson that takes a close look at The World’s Columbian Exposition, the world’s fair that Chicago hosted in 1893, held in celebration of the 400th anniversary of Columbus’ discovery of America. The fair was tainted by deaths, a serial killer, and an assassination. The lead architect, Daniel Burnham, and the serial killer, Henry Howard Holmes, play pivotal roles in the events that unfolded before, during, and after the fair. In the late nineteenth century, Chicago was a raw city, growing fast, but it was horribly polluted. Fourteen million animals went to their deaths each year in the stockyards. Garbage and manure piled up and typhus, cholera, and other diseases raged. Train and carriage accidents killed several people daily. Fires were even more deadly. The city tallied 800 murders in just the first half of one year… PLEASE NOTE: This is a summary and analysis of the book and NOT the original book. Inside this Instaread Summary & Analysis of The Devil in the White City • Summary of book • Introduction to the Important People in the book • Analysis of the Themes and Author’s Style

Lethal Passage

Lethal Passage
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Vintage
Total Pages: 297
Release: 1995-01-15
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0679759271

This devastating book illuminates America's gun culture -- its manufacturers, dealers, buffs, and propagandists -- but also offers concrete solutions to our national epidemic of death by firearm. "Touches on all aspects of the gun issue in this country. Gives great voice to that feeling...that something real must be done." --San Diego Union-Tribune "One of the most readable anti-gun treatises in years." --Washington Post Book World It begins with an account of a crime that is by now almost commonplace: on December 16, 1988, sixteen-year-old Nicholas Elliot walked into his Virginia high school with a Cobray M-11/9 and several hundred rounds of ammunition tucked in his backpack. By day's end, he had killed one teacher and severely wounded another. In Lethal Passage Erik Larson shows us how a disturbed teenager was able to buy a weapon advertised as "the gun that made the eighties roar." The result is a book that can -- and should -- save lives, and that has already become an essential text in the gun-control debate.

City of Big Shoulders

City of Big Shoulders
Author: Robert G. Spinney
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 325
Release: 2020-05-15
Genre: History
ISBN: 1501748351

"Condensed yet energetic and substantial history of Chicago. Spinney has a firm sense of historical narrative as well as a keen eye for entertaining and illuminating detail."― Publishers Weekly A city of immigrants and entrepreneurs, Chicago is quintessentially American. Spinney brings it to life and highlights the key people, moments, and special places—from Fort Dearborn to Cabrini-Green, Marquette to Mayor Daley, the Union Stock Yards to the Chicago Bulls—that make this incredible city one of the best places in the world. City of Big Shoulders links key events in Chicago's development, from its marshy origins in the 1600s to today's robust metropolis. Robert G. Spinney presents Chicago in terms of the people whose lives made the city—from the tycoons and the politicians to the hundreds of thousands of immigrants from all over the world. In this revised and updated second edition that brings Chicago's story into the twenty-first century, Spinney sweeps his historian's gaze across the colorful and dramatic panorama of the city's explosive past. How did the pungent swamplands that the Native Americans called "the wild-garlic place" burgeon into one of the world's largest and most sophisticated cities? What is the real story behind the Great Chicago Fire? What aspects of American industry exploded with the bomb in Haymarket Square? Could the gritty blue-collar hometown of Al Capone become a visionary global city?

The Splendid and the Vile

The Splendid and the Vile
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Crown
Total Pages: 609
Release: 2020-02-25
Genre: History
ISBN: 038534872X

#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • The author of The Devil in the White City and Dead Wake delivers an intimate chronicle of Winston Churchill and London during the Blitz—an inspiring portrait of courage and leadership in a time of unprecedented crisis “One of [Erik Larson’s] best books yet . . . perfectly timed for the moment.”—Time • “A bravura performance by one of America’s greatest storytellers.”—NPR NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY The New York Times Book Review • Time • Vogue • NPR • The Washington Post • Chicago Tribune • The Globe & Mail • Fortune • Bloomberg • New York Post • The New York Public Library • Kirkus Reviews • LibraryReads • PopMatters On Winston Churchill’s first day as prime minister, Adolf Hitler invaded Holland and Belgium. Poland and Czechoslovakia had already fallen, and the Dunkirk evacuation was just two weeks away. For the next twelve months, Hitler would wage a relentless bombing campaign, killing 45,000 Britons. It was up to Churchill to hold his country together and persuade President Franklin Roosevelt that Britain was a worthy ally—and willing to fight to the end. In The Splendid and the Vile, Erik Larson shows, in cinematic detail, how Churchill taught the British people “the art of being fearless.” It is a story of political brinkmanship, but it’s also an intimate domestic drama, set against the backdrop of Churchill’s prime-ministerial country home, Chequers; his wartime retreat, Ditchley, where he and his entourage go when the moon is brightest and the bombing threat is highest; and of course 10 Downing Street in London. Drawing on diaries, original archival documents, and once-secret intelligence reports—some released only recently—Larson provides a new lens on London’s darkest year through the day-to-day experience of Churchill and his family: his wife, Clementine; their youngest daughter, Mary, who chafes against her parents’ wartime protectiveness; their son, Randolph, and his beautiful, unhappy wife, Pamela; Pamela’s illicit lover, a dashing American emissary; and the advisers in Churchill’s “Secret Circle,” to whom he turns in the hardest moments. The Splendid and the Vile takes readers out of today’s political dysfunction and back to a time of true leadership, when, in the face of unrelenting horror, Churchill’s eloquence, courage, and perseverance bound a country, and a family, together.

In The Garden of Beasts

In The Garden of Beasts
Author: Erik Larson
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 464
Release: 2011-08-31
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1446464504

'A compelling tale... a narrative that makes such a brave effort to see history as it evolves and not as it becomes.' SPECTATOR Suffused with the tense atmosphere of the times, and with brilliant portraits of Hitler, Goebbels, Goering and Himmler amongst others, Erik Larson's new book sheds unique light on events as they unfold, resulting in an unforgettable, addictively readable work of narrative history. Berlin,1933. William E. Dodd, a mild-mannered academic from Chicago, has to his own and everyone else's surprise, become America's first ambassador to Hitler's Germany, in a year that proves to be a turning point in history. Dodd and his family, notably his vivacious daughter, Martha, observe at first-hand the many changes - some subtle, some disturbing, and some horrifically violent - that signal Hitler's consolidation of power. Dodd has little choice but to associate with key figures in the Nazi party, his increasingly concerned cables make little impact on an indifferent U.S. State Department, while Martha is drawn to the Nazis and their vision of a 'New Germany' and has a succession of affairs with senior party players, including first chief of the Gestapo, Rudolf Diels. But as the year darkens, Dodd and his daughter find their lives transformed and any last illusion they might have about Hitler are shattered by the violence of the 'Night of the Long Knives' in the summer of 1934 that established him as supreme dictator . . .

Summary and Analysis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story

Summary and Analysis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story
Author: Worth Books
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 45
Release: 2017-03-14
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1504044711

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tells you what you need to know—before or after you read John Berendt’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Profiles of the main characters What’s what in Savannah Important quotes Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil: A Savannah Story by John Berendt: John Berendt’s engrossing bestseller Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil tells the story of his time spent in Savannah, Georgia. Berendt didn’t just observe the city’s lovely locales and its quirky characters—he also became immersed in a murder case that would shock and fascinate much of Georgia. Part true crime saga, part travel diary, part reportage, Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil is a suspenseful, sharply observed account of Berendt’s sojourns in Savannah and the murder trial of one if its socialites. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

Summary and Analysis of Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psycho

Summary and Analysis of Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original Psycho
Author: Worth Books
Publisher: Open Road Media
Total Pages: 44
Release: 2017-04-04
Genre: True Crime
ISBN: 1504044908

So much to read, so little time? This brief overview of Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho” tells you what you need to know—before or after you read Harold Schechter’s book. Crafted and edited with care, Worth Books set the standard for quality and give you the tools you need to be a well-informed reader. This short summary and analysis of Deviant includes: Historical context Chapter-by-chapter overviews Profiles of the main characters Detailed timeline of key events Important quotes and analysis Fascinating trivia Glossary of terms Supporting material to enhance your understanding of the original work About Deviant: The Shocking True Story of Ed Gein, the Original “Psycho” by Harold Schechter: This true-crime classic profiles Ed Gein, the murderer and grave robber whose crimes inspired the films Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Ed Gein was a mildmannered midwestern farmhand—until his horrific crimes were uncovered. After a failed attempt to dig up the grave of his dead mother, Gein became a grave robber and then a murderer. What he did with the bodies of his victims was disturbing and gory beyond all imagination, and it leaves no doubt about what Ed Gein really was: the original psycho. The summary and analysis in this ebook are intended to complement your reading experience and bring you closer to a great work of nonfiction.

The Alienist

The Alienist
Author: Caleb Carr
Publisher: Random House
Total Pages: 513
Release: 2006-10-24
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1588365409

NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NOW A TNT ORIGINAL SERIES • “A first-rate tale of crime and punishment that will keep readers guessing until the final pages.”—Entertainment Weekly “Caleb Carr’s rich period thriller takes us back to the moment in history when the modern idea of the serial killer became available to us.”—The Detroit News When The Alienist was first published in 1994, it was a major phenomenon, spending six months on the New York Times bestseller list, receiving critical acclaim, and selling millions of copies. This modern classic continues to be a touchstone of historical suspense fiction for readers everywhere. The year is 1896. The city is New York. Newspaper reporter John Schuyler Moore is summoned by his friend Dr. Laszlo Kreizler—a psychologist, or “alienist”—to view the horribly mutilated body of an adolescent boy abandoned on the unfinished Williamsburg Bridge. From there the two embark on a revolutionary effort in criminology: creating a psychological profile of the perpetrator based on the details of his crimes. Their dangerous quest takes them into the tortured past and twisted mind of a murderer who will kill again before their hunt is over. Fast-paced and riveting, infused with historical detail, The Alienist conjures up Gilded Age New York, with its tenements and mansions, corrupt cops and flamboyant gangsters, shining opera houses and seamy gin mills. It is an age in which questioning society’s belief that all killers are born, not made, could have unexpected and fatal consequences. Praise for The Alienist “[A] delicious premise . . . Its settings and characterizations are much more sophisticated than the run-of-the-mill thrillers that line the shelves in bookstores.”—The Washington Post Book World “Mesmerizing.”—Detroit Free Press “The method of the hunt and the disparate team of hunters lift the tale beyond the level of a good thriller—way beyond. . . . A remarkable combination of historical novel and psychological thriller.”—The Buffalo News “Engrossing.”—Newsweek “Gripping, atmospheric . . . intelligent and entertaining.”—USA Today “A high-spirited, charged-up and unfailingly smart thriller.”—Los Angeles Times “Keeps readers turning pages well past their bedtime.”—San Francisco Chronicle