Harry Houdini was the most famous escape artist and magician in the world has ever known.  Houdini performed during what was been called "the Golden Age of magic". He escaped from the chains locked around his body with thousands of spectators watching.  He freed himself from straightjackets while hanging upside down from the edges of skyscrapers.  His most famous trick was the milk can escape: he was handcuffed and submerged in water and a padlocked milk can, which was placed inside a padlocked, iron bound wooden box.
 
Because Houdini's deeds seemed impossible, people said he must have used supernatural means to accomplish them. Houdini denied this, and he even explained how some of his tricks were performed, but the aura of mystery remained. 
 
Though time diminishes the celebrity of most people, Houdini's fame and legend have continued to grow since his death in 1926. Illustrated with archive archival photographs, Clinton Cox's compelling and meticulously researched biography of "the man who walked through walls" informs readers of Houdini's rise from humble beginnings to stardom and fortune.