This coffetable art book (888 pages) was published in June of 2016 by Taschen. The book takes you to the circus. David read The Circus and loved it; it wouldn't be on our site if he didn't recommend it.
Bookshop.org is an online bookstore with a mission to financially support independent bookstores and give back to the book community.
Embark on a technicolor visual journey through the history of the American circus with this epic coffee table book. It’s packed with sharp prose, dazzling full-color photos, and vintage circus posters that defined mid-century design.
From the mid-1800s until just after WWII, traveling circuses were the greatest thing ever seen in entertainment. Traveling troupes that included daredevils, exotic animals, pretty girls in sparkly costumes, flying families, sideshow performers, and clowns crisscrossed the country by railroad — up to 20,000 miles per season — to bring spectacle to the far-flung cities and towns of the United States.
Audiences had literally never seen anything like it before. And this book is like a time machine back to an era when entertainment came to visit your hometown. This book is appropriately poster-sized, a personal circus museum you can carry with you.
Editor Noel Daniel has a keen eye and reportedly searched through about 300,000 images in archives and private collections to select these 900. The text is written by a circus historian and an actual circus ringmaster, so it sings with authenticity and insider detail.
Wanna help us spread the word? If you like this page, please share with your friends.
Strong Sense of Place is a website and podcast dedicated to literary travel and books we love. Reading good books increases empathy. Empathy is good for all of us and the amazing world we inhabit.
Strong Sense of Place is a listener-supported podcast. If you like the work we do, you can help make it happen by joining our Patreon! That'll unlock bonus content for you, too — including Mel's secret book reviews and Dave's behind-the-scenes notes for the latest Two Truths and a Lie.
Join our Substack to get our FREE newsletter with podcast updates and behind-the-scenes info — and join in fun chats about books and travel with other lovely readers.
We'll share enough detail to help you decide if a book is for you, but we'll never ruin plot twists or give away the ending.
This 30-page Reading Atlas takes you around the world with dozens of excellent books and gorgeous travel photos. Get your free copy when you subscribe to our newsletter.
Content on this site is ©2024 by Smudge Publishing, unless otherwise noted. Peace be with you, person who reads the small type.
