Erik Larson, The Devil in the White City

In this fascinating piece of "popular history," Larson makes the past come alive. The city of Chicago in all of its turn-of-the-century glory, with its vistas and its smells, as well as its aspirations, takes center stage. Larson tells the intertwining tales of two men: one, Daniel Burnham, the primary architect behind the planning and construction of the worlds fair; and, two, H. H. Holmes, the psychopathic mastermind behind innumerable disappearances of women from around the time of the fair.

Larson's tale is well worth reading. It is full of historical detail and gives a fascinating sense of what it would have been like to live in the Midwest near the turn of the century. It also sheds light on the aspirations, in this case specifically of Chicago and Burnham, for cosmopolitan prominence. As the two stories unfold, there are innumerable defeats and victories, that catch up the reader in the sense of doom that shrouds the whole affair.