In a symbol-drenched ceremony last week accepting a prize for European integration in the German city of Aachen, Jean-Claude Trichet, the theatrical president of the European Central Bank, named the European thinkers down the ages who have given him inspiration. Erasmus, William Penn, Immanuel Kant, Victor Hugo, Isaac Newton, Robert Schuman, Max Weber, Jean Monnet, Paul Valéry. All part and parcel of “the spiritual character of Europe”. One name was missing. Harry Houdini. The Hungarian-born American escapologist (real name Erik Weisz), who wowed millions with his miraculous stunts at the beginning of the last c ... (full story)