Documents 

Traveling back to the circus’s early days, Linda Simon takes us to eighteenth-century hippodromes in Great Britain and intimate one-ring circuses in nineteenth-century Paris, where Toulouse-Lautrec and Picasso became enchanted with aerialists and clowns. She introduces us to P. T. Barnum, James Bailey, and the enterprising Ringling Brothers and reveals how they created the golden age of American circuses. Moving forward to the whimsical Circus Oz in Australia and to New York City’s Big Apple Circus and the grand spectacle of Cirque du Soleil, she shows how the circus has transformed in recent years. At the center of the story are the people—trick riders and tightrope walkers, sword swallowers and animal trainers, contortionists and clowns—that created the sensational, raucous, and sometimes titillating world of the circus. [editor summary]

Wilkins chronicles a month on the road in his native Canada with the Great Wallenda Circus in the spring of 1997 and, in the process, offers remarkable insight into a subcultureAthe diverse assortment of gymnasts, animal trainers, daredevils and wanderers who identify themselves as circus folk. Ricky Wallenda, the producer, inherited his famous name from his grandfather Karl Wallenda, the patriarch of the famous "Flying Wallendas" circus family. Wallenda, forced off the high wire and into show production by two harrowing accidents and haunted by the memory of family and personal tragedy. [editor summary]

Circus celebrates the evolution of this gloriuos spectacle under the Big Top -- from its early days of Minoan horn-vaulting and medieval street performers through its heyday in Europe and North America with entrepreneurs such as P.T. Barnum and the Ringling family to the circus of today such as Cirque du Soleil. Illustrated with photographs, posters, paintings, and tickets from around the world, we are introduced to performers who have thrilled crowds with their daring and to world-famous clowns who have transformed comic routines into art. In this first comprehensive children's book on the subject, readers will discover the daily life of circus families, the music, training, and costumes, and the legends -- from Jumbo the elephant to the original "daring young man on the flying trapeze". Sidebars full of fascinating circus trivia about superstitions, "lot lingo", and circus inventions such as the leotard and pink lemonade, add to the fun. A fascinating inside look at one of the world's most daring and dazzling entertainments.[editor summary]

For eight generations, The Flying Wallendas have amazed all who watch their daring artistry and dazzling skill. Since 1780 the Wallenda family has been a traveling circus troupe of acrobats, jugglers, clowns, and animal trainers. Throughout the 20th century, they were famed for their wire walking and flying trapeze, some done as high as 10 stories above the ground and all without a net. Now, in the 21st century, The Wallendas face diminishing audiences, a collapsing business model and a vanishing way of life. As they struggle to hold onto their rich heritage, The Flying Wallendas must beat back the harsh realities of performance anxiety, financial despair and spectator ambivalence while continuing to bring dreams to the dreamers from under the big top. [editor summary]