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The nineteenth century saw the American circus move from a reviled and rejected form of entertainment to the “Greatest Show on Earth.” Circus Life by Micah D. Childress looks at this transition from the perspective of the people who owned and worked in circuses and how they responded to the new incentives that rapid industrialization made possible.
The circus has long been a subject of fascination for many, as evidenced by the millions of Americans that have attended circus performances over many decades since 1870, when the circus established itself as a truly unique entertainment enterprise. Yet the few analyses of the circus that do exist have only examined the circus as its own closed microcosm—the “circus family.” Circus Life, on the other hand, places circus employees in the larger context of the history of US workers and corporate America. Focusing on the circus as a business-entertainment venture, Childress pushes the scholarship on circuses to new depths, examining the performers, managers, and laborers’ lives and how the circus evolved as it grew in popularity over time. Beginning with circuses in the antebellum era, Childress examines changes in circuses as gender balances shifted, industrialization influenced the nature of shows, and customers and crowds became increasingly more middle-class.
As a study in sport and social history, Childress’s account demonstrates how the itinerant nature of the circus drew specific types of workers and performers, and how the circus was internally in constant upheaval due to the changing profile of its patrons and a changing economy. [editor summary]

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]

Un incontournable ouvrage de référence qui apporte une riche reflexion sur le développement du rôle et des influences de la Femme dans les arts du cirque à travers le temps et envers la communauté au sens large. Publié suite à une conférence multidisciplinaire « Zene & Cirkus » qui s’est tenue à Zagreb (Croatie) en novembre 2009, cet ouvrage regroupe les textes des conférences des historiens, spécialistes de théâtre, anthropologues, artistes et journalistes qui ont proposé leur point de vue sur la contribution de la Femme au cirque traditionnel et actuel. De plus, cet ouvrage présente plus de 191 superbes photos issues d’archives publiques et privées.

At the turn of the 20th century, scores of circuses crisscrossed America. In many towns, Circus Day was a major holiday, right behind Christmas and Fourth of July. Schools and businesses closed as the populace flocked to the circus street parade and, later, to the circus grounds. Their anticipation had been fueled weeks beforehand by the circus's advance squads of billposters, who covered walls and fences for miles around with brilliantly colored, boldly bombastic posters advertising the season's feature attractions. The Amazing American Circus Poster: The Strobridge Lithographing Company catalog uses extant posters to explore the circus and its impact on American culture. It also examines the role of the posters themselves in the evolution of visual communication and consumer advertising, particularly outdoor advertising. [editor summary]

The author has interviewed the showmen and performers, collected carnival memorabilia, researched the published literature, and even performed some classic sideshow feats, such as eating fire and lying on a bed of nails while a cinderblock was broken on his chest. Secrets of the Sideshows reveals the specific methods and tricks behind the performances, the showmen’s tactics for recruiting performers and attracting crowds, and more. Nickell also examines the behind-the-scenes secrets of sideshow life, including details of the remarkable personal lives of those men and women billed as “freaks.” [editor summary]

Catalogue de l'exposition au musée d'Art contemporain de Lyon s'inspirant des "Freak Shows" dont le plus célèbre fut celui du cirque ambulant Barnum and Bailey aux USA, qui présentait d'étonnants phénomènes ou monstres de foire. Près de 50 œuvres interprètent et explorent les différents types de monstruosité ou d'anormalité avec des œuvres contorsionnistes, géantes, poilues, siamoises… en se préservant de tout anthropomorphisme. Ce catalogue, comporte 80 pages de vues de l'exposition en couleur, un glossaire des freaks célèbres et du folklore correspondant (de l'homme tronc à l'homme aquarium). [résumé de l'éditeur]

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]

This is a monumental history of that universally trancing, international phenomenon-the circus. It is the most complete chronicle of circuses and circus lore ever written in the english language. No reader can fail to be impressed by the scope of its coverage and the vividness of its descriptions. No lover of circus wonders can remain unmoved while reading of the people and performances that illuminated circus life.

The author reveals the origins of circus acts among Greek and Roman acrobats and medieval minstrels, tracing their development through eighteenth-century
fairs where they were combined with displays of horse riding in a circular ring to form a new style of presentation. He then follows the evolution of circuses during the nineteenth century, showing how novel acts and exhibitions of animal training were introduced to produce the circus we know today.

Mr. Speaight demonstrates the special way in which the circus grew in the United States, where three-ring circuses were transported over vast distances by railroad; and he describes the Golden Age of the circus in Europe, when circus riders ranked with ballet stars in popular esteem. Finally, he provides an up-to-the-minute account of circuses in the world today.

The author's account is based on many years of research in unpublished manuscripts and museum collections, and he reverses some long.held errors of previous writers on the subject. His book contains exhaustive notes and an appendix, listing circus buildings in London, New york and paris, which brings together information never before printed, giving the book great value as a permanent work of reference. [editor summary]