PT Barnum

P.T. Barnum is the greatest showman the world has ever seen: the co-creator of the Barnum & Bailey Circus; the man who made famous worldwide sensations like Jumbo the Elephant, General Tom Thumb, and the "Swedish Nightingale" Jenny Lind. He was the champion of wonder, joy, trickery, and "humbug." He was, as Robert Wilson argues in his authoritative biography P.T Barnum, one of the most important figures in American history.

Nearly 125 years after his death, the name P.T. Barnum still inspires intrigue. Robert Wilson's vivid new biography captures the full vivacity, infamy, and allure of Barnum. From birth to death, Barnum repeatedly reinvented and reformed himself. His is a true rags-to-riches story, as he learned how to wow crowds, built up his own fortune to become one of the first millionaires, then suffered tragedy, bankruptcy, and fires that destroyed his life's work--only to will himself to rebuild and succeed again. He is a man who learned from his mistakes and continued to grow well into old age, reforming from a racist in his youth to an abolitionist and an advocate for black Americans' voting rights. He was a man of strong convictions, guided in his work not by a desire not to deceive but to thrill and bring joy. His audiences might not always get what they expected, he would say, but they always got their money's worth.

P.T. Barnum is imbued with the same high-spirited sense of opportunity and wonder as its subject. It gives Barnum his due as a heroic figure, worthy of long-term appreciation--a man who embodied and helped create a distinctive sense of American optimism, industriousness, humor, and relentless energy.