Houdini

Auteur

Charlotte Montague is a writer who specializes in history. Her father was a naval officer, and as a child, she traveled the world with her family. After gaining an MA degree in History from Sussex University, she began writing on a variety of subjects including ethnic cultures, travel and music. Since then, she has continued to write on costumes, flags, knots, body adornment, sea shanties and many other topics. More recently, she developed an interest in the history of crime at sea, not only in Europe but further afield. Her current research has taken her to many parts of the globe, including Africa and the Far East, particularly the islands of the South Pacific. She travels for most of the year, but returns frequently to her home, a remote eighteenth-century cottage close to a famous smuggler's cove on the Cornish coast.

Résumé
Based on contemporary reports and diaries, with historic photographs and period posters, Houdini is an intriguing biography of the world’s greatest magician and escape artist. Ninety years after his death, this book from the Oxford People series brings both the man and his magic back to life again for one last performance.

In the early 1900s, Houdini’s handcuff show was a huge sensation that toured the best venues in the USA and Europe, and when audiences demanded more, he introduced straight-jackets, water-filled tanks, and nailed shut packing crates.

His outdoor spectaculars became increasingly elaborate. In the early winter of 1906, he leaped manacled from the MacArthur Bridge in Detroit, Michigan, freeing himself from two pairs of handcuffs beneath the icy waters. Houdini's mega-star status allowed him to fly airplanes, star in his own movies, write and publish his own books, and even become president of the Society of American Magicians.

This biography is an authoritative view from accomplished biographer Charlotte Montague, and belongs on the shelf of any lover of magic, escape artistry, and enigmatic figures.