The Greatest Show On Earth: The History Of The Ringling Bros. And Barnum & Bailey Circus

Includes pictures. Highlights Barnum's entertainment career and transition into the circus. Includes a bibliography for further reading. We bring you the circus — that Pied Piper whose magic tunes lead children of all ages into a tinseled and spun-candied world of reckless beauty and mounting laughter; whirling thrills; of rhythm, excitement and grace; of daring, enflaring and dance; of high-stepping horses and high-flying stars. But behind all this, the circus is a massive machine whose very life depends on discipline, motion and speed — a mechanized army on wheels that rolls over any obstacle in its path — that meets calamity again and again, but always comes up smiling — a place where disaster and tragedy stalk the Big Top, haunts the back yard, and rides the circus train — where Death is constantly watching for one frayed rope, one weak link, or one trace of fear. A fierce, primitive fighting force that smashes relentlessly forward against impossible odds is the essence of the circus — and this is the story of the biggest of the Big Tops — and of the men and women who fight to make it.