Oxford University Press has done an immense disservice to John Zubrzycki’s fascinating “Empire of Enchantment: The Story of Indian Magic.” Apart from some print-on-demand atrocities, I’ve seldom ...

Ever since he saw the 1953 film as a child about the magician and escape artist Harry Houdini, John McLaughlin has been fascinated by magic. "It was spellbinding to me," he says, recalling the ...