History is a guide to navigation in perilous times. History is who we are and why we are the way we are.
~ David C. McCullough

Harry Houdini Reading List

The following books are intended for adult readers, but older children or teenagers may also find them quite lively and entertaining.  You can purchase these books, on-line, in our Houdini Store.

Listed in order of their publication, most recent first:

Harry Houdini: Death-Defying Showman
by Rita Thievon Mullin
Sterling Publishing, New York, 2007

Houdini!!! The Career of Ehrich Weiss
by Kenneth Silverman
HarperCollins, New York, 1996

The Life and Many Deaths of Harry Houdini
by Ruth Brandon
Random House, New York, 1993

Death and the Magician
by Raymund Fitz Simons
Athenum, New York, 1985

The Great Illusionist
by E.A. Dawes
Cartwell Books, 1979

Houdini: His Legend and His Magic
by Doug Henning, with Charles Reynolds
Warner Books, 1977

Houdini: A Pictorial Life
by Milbourne Christopher
Thomas Crowell Company, New York, 1976

The Original Houdini Scrapbook
by Walter Gibson
Sterling Publishing, New York, 1976

Houdini: His Life in Art
by James Randi and Burt Sugar
Grosset and Dunlap, New York, 1976

Houdini: A Mind in Chains
by Bernard Meyer
Dutton, 1976

Houdini: The Untold Story
by Milbourne Christopher, 1969

The Master Magicians
by Walter Gibson
Citadel Press, 1966

Magic and Magicians
by Bill Severn
David McKay Company, New York, 1958

There are many childrens' books about Houdini, including:

The Importance of Harry Houdini
by Adam Woog
Lucent Books, Inc., San Diego, 1995

The Houdini Box
by Brian Selznick
Alfred A. Knopf, New York, 1991

Harry Houdini: Young Magician
by Kathryn Kilby Borland, 1993 (c. 1969)

The Great Houdini
by Louis Sabin, 1990

Harry Houdini: Master of Magic
by Robert Kruaske, 1973