James David Robenalt - Linking Rings: William W. Durbin and the Magic and Mystery of America

William W. Durbin, businessman, political activist, and professional magician, was a major figure in Ohio politics during the first half of the twentieth century, serving as the powerful head of the Oho Democratic Party and as a senior official in the U.S. Treasury under Franklin D. Roosevelt. Durbins story is that of a political maverick who knew how to manipulate behind-the-scenes activities, especially in Ohios political arena. He was instrumental in William Jennings Bryans near-defeat of William McKinley in Ohio, and two decades later he helped Woodrow Wilson reach the White House. Although Durbins vocation was politics, his passion was magic. One of the nations premier magicians, who performed on stage as The Past Master of the Black Art, he was the first elected president of the International Brotherhood of Magicians, a professional organization that has grown since its first convention in Kenton Ohio, in 1926 to number more than 15,000 members today. Imaginatively told and thoroughly research, Linking Rings is an engaging biography narrated by James D. Robenalt, Durbins great-grandson, who places himself with Durbin in a long car ride back to Ohio from Washington, D.C., in February 1937. Fans of magic and those interested in political history will find Linking Rings an engrossing read.