This is a delve into the history of magic shows and showmen in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. You learn along the way how various magic tricks are done but that’s not the whole point of the book. The trick here (if you’ll excuse the pun) is that unlike the kind of exposé you see on TV - the kind that leaves you thinking “is that all?” - this book goes into how the illusions were conceived, invented and perfected. So you’re left thinking how neat, clever and complicated it all is and how much more there is to magic than “they do it with mirrors”.