ZOMG Spoiler! Click here to view!
1. The Holocaust by Laurence Rees
2. Cathedrals of Steam by Christian Wolmar
3. United Ireland: Why Unification is Inevitable and How It will Come About by Kevin Meagher
4. The Brilliant Abyss by Helen Scales
5. You Don't Want to Know by James Felton
6. Agrippina: Empress, Exile, Hustler, Whore by Emma Southon
7. The Unexpected Truth About Animals by Lucy Cooke
8. Fifty Things That Made the Modern Economy by Tim Hartford
9. The Thirty-Nine Steps by John Bucan
10. Meet the Georgians by Robert Peal
11. Houdini: the Man who Walked Through Walls by William Lindsey GreshamOne of the earliest biographies of Ehrich Weiss, first published in the late 1950s.
The book goes into detail about the development of his acts, how he achieved some of them, and his knack for self-publicity. There's some discussion of his relationship with Conan Doyle, which could probably be a full length study on its own given their fundamental differences over spiritualism. The book hints that Houndini's reputation as a great debunker of mediums might in part have been mutually beneficial to spiritualists as those who believe would just discount it and go to the people he attacks. It also discusses if this part of his career came about if Houndini wanted spiritualism to be true and was annoyed that it wasn't.
Although there's probably later and better biographies of Houdini out there, I was fascinated interested by the old stories and the descriptions of European and North American stage acts. I didn't realise that he made his name and his greatest successes with extensive tours of Europe rather than the US vaudeville circuits. I particularly enjoyed the comment that during his regular "challenge" part of his act, when he invited members of the audience (and a few plants) to bring on stage their own restraints, if his crew saw something they didn't recognise the audience member would be beckoned off stage and shown the stage door, sometimes with the help of a blackjack to facilitate co-operation.
Houdini comes across as an obsessive, emotionally immature, and highly egotistical showman, but one who knew his craft inside out and how to build an audience.
Unfortunately, whilst the book does contain many interviews with those who knew him and is an easy and gripping read, the author does dwell a little too long on the physicality of many of the women in the story, even in the bibliography and footnotes! With modern eyes, this all comes across a little uncomfortable.