Fall of the Big Top: The Vanishing American Circus

by David Lewis Hammarstrom

Book Overview

Once an eagerly awaited spectacle, the traveling circus--that miracle of red wagons, trumpeting elephants and spangled trapeze artists that slipped into town at dawn and disappeared by midnight--has all but vanished from the American landscape. This work explores circus history from 1793 to the present and addresses the forces of modern culture (such as the popularity of Cirque du Soleil, and pressure from the animal rights movement) that are...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0786431695
• ISBN13: 9780786431694
• Release Date: November 2007
• Publisher: McFarland & Company
• Length: 239 Pages
• Weight: 1.35 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 7.3" x 10.0"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher