Description
Book SynopsisHarperCollins is proud to present its incredible range of best-loved, essential classics.Meet the greatest entertainer of the 19th CenturyIn 1834, desperate to create a better life for his family, small-time Connecticut businessman P. T. Barnum moved to New York City. With true entrepreneurial spirit and against all odds, he wowed audiences with his ensemble of musical spectacles, attractions and variety shows often exploiting the vulnerable for entertainment value. A master showman, his crowning achievement was the world-famous circus, Barnum & Bailey's Greatest Show on Earth.In this account of his life and work, written by the man himself and first published in 1855, P. T. Barnum creates an aura of excitement about himself and his enduring fame, confirming his reputation as the greatest impresario of all time and revealing the controversial decisions that helped him to his fortune.
Trade Review‘[P.T. Barnum was the] greatest American impresario, a canny businessman who was just a little luckier, more energetic and more imaginative than his competitors. As a result, he wound up the most influential progenitor of much that is spectacular, vulgar, cheerfully phony and just plain fun about American popular culture’ The Times
