Synopses & Reviews
This carefully researched study of America's greatest showman, huckster, and impresario is both an inclusive analysis of the historical and cultural forces that were the conditions of P. T. Barnum's success, and, as befits its subject, a richly entertaining presentation of the outrageous man and his exploits.
Synopsis
This book is one of the most valuable contributions to American cultural studies of the nineteenth century in recent years. It explores analytically and critically American cultural life, the developing urbanization between 1840 and the 1880s, and some major patterns within that movement, through the prism of the career and doings of P.T. Barnum.
About the Author
Neil Harris is professor of history at the University of Chicago. He is the author of
The Artist in American Society and
Cultural Excursion, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
Table of Contents
Introduction
1. Early Years
2. The American Museum
3. The Operational Aesthetic
4. International Triumphs
5. The Swedish Nightingale
6. Disasters Encountered
7. Business and Politics
8. The Man of Confidence
9. The Circus
10. The Compleat Showman
Acknowledgments
Bibliographic Essay
Notes
Index