The Circus Book

One of my most prized possessions is a book I was given for Christmas last year. It is much more than a mere book. It is a treasure trove of history and imagery and stories and romance. The Circus Book, lovingly edited by Noel Daniel and Dominique Jando, covers the social history of the circus from the 1870s - 1950s. Through the kaleidescope lens of a circus ringtop, readers get to view the evolution of American gender politics, global economics and interculturalism.
The Circus Book is extraordinarily generous in it's use of imagery. Rich in both visual and written content, inch for inch it provides ample value for money. This tome is enormous, bigger than most atlases, and comes encased in it's own box. At Christmas I nearly put my back out just unwrapping it.