RUTH BRANDON is a prominent historian, biographer, and novelist. Her widely acclaimed books include Other People's Daughters: The Lives and Times of the Governess; The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini; Surreal Lives: The Surrealists 1917-1945; and Being Divine: A Biography of Sarah Bernhardt.

Photo © Sarah Turton

For many performers, stage life and real life are separate identities. For master illusionist Harry Houdini, the two were inextricably linked. In this widely acclaimed biography, Ruth Brandon shows how Houdini’s obsession with his own mortality drove him to create death-defying stunts that not only captivated the public but also subdued... Read more