Explore the Captivating Life of P.T. Barnum

He wasn't always the Great Showman. In fact, Phineas Taylor Barnum grew up in relative poverty with only his wits to help him along. When his father died, the fifteen-year-old boy entered the working world as a shopkeeper's assistant. In leaps and bounds, he worked his way from assistant to shop owner, lottery office owner, and eventually, entertainment promoter. The bulk of his career was focused on his beloved American Museum, where thousands of ticket-holders flocked every day to look at the human oddities, stuffed animals, live whale, and American memorabilia. In the Barnum and Bailey Circus, we see the culmination of the renowned man's life's work.

Some of the topics covered in this book include:

• The Inn-Keeper's Son


• Lottery Mania


• The Herald of Freedom


• Leasing Joice Heth


• Barnum's American Museum


• General Tom Thumb Goes to England


• The Swedish Nightingale


• 'The Drunkard' at the Moral Lecture Room


• Bankruptcy and Criticism


• The Family Man


• Publicist, Showman, Author


• The Nancy Fish Era


• The Greatest Show on Earth


• More Politicking


• The Blackface Minstrels


• The Last Show


• And much more!