I picked this up on a sale table a few years ago and have been reading it in fits and starts since then. I finally sat down to finish it. The authors did extensive research on Harry Houdini (real name Ehrich Weiss), his childhood in Wisconsin, his performing career, and life outside the stage. The story of how a young locksmith's apprentice led to international fame as an escape artist and stage magician is interesting in itself. But Houdini's sideline work is just as interesting. He passed information to British Intelligence while performing in Europe in the days before World War I. He also spent years and much of his own money in efforts to debunk fraudulent spiritualist mediums using trickery to get money from their clients. That work led to the end of his friendship with the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, an avid believer in spiritualism. Houdini's life was fascinating and as varied as the persona he created for himself.
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