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John Woolf

The Wonders

Lifting the Curtain on the Freak Show, Circus and Victorian Age

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Details

Imprint: O'Mara Books

Publication date: 02/05/2019

ISBN: 9781782439936

Subject: Non-Fiction

Category: Science - History - Philosophy

Binding: Hardback

Size: 234 x 153 mm

Extent: 384 pages

Illustration: 16pp colour plate section

Territorial Rights: World (All Languages)

Edition Status: Out of Print

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Summary:

'A promising young historian with a taste for the exotic.' Stephen Fry

The Wonders is a radical new history of the Victorian age: meet the forgotten and extraordinary freak performers whose talents and disabilities helped define an era.

On 23 March, 1844, General Tom Thumb, at 25 inches tall, entered the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and bowed low to Queen Victoria. On both sides of the Atlantic, this meeting marked a tipping point in the nineteenth century – the age of the freak was born.

Bewitching all levels of society, it was a world of astonishing spectacle – of dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins and swaggering showmen – and one that has since inspired countless novels, films and musicals. But the real stories (human dramas that so often eclipsed the fantasy presented on the stage), of the performing men, women and children, have been forgotten or marginalized in the histories of the very people who exploited them.

In this richly evocative account, Dr John Woolf uses a wealth of recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant, always extraordinary stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities. And through their lives we discover afresh some of the great transformations of the age: the birth of showbusiness, of celebrity, of advertising, of ‘alternative facts’; while also exploring the tensions between the power of fame, the impact of exploitation and our fascination with ‘otherness’.

Reviews:

A promising young historian with a taste for the exotic.

Stephen Fry

A personality-driven history of the 'freak' show... alive and informative.

The Spectator

Nuanced and complex, Woolf deftly shows there are stories of empowerment alongside those of exploitation. Woolf gives these marginalised performers a voice - a voice that was rarely heard in life

BBC History Magazine

Woolf balances colourful, detailed storytelling with sharp-eyed cultural unpacking

Publishers Weekly

Fascinating and thought-provoking. A marvellously researched account of the freak industry - an extraordinary side of Victorian life which has been ignored for too long.

Jane Ridley, author of Bertie

A wonderfully rich, compassionate and pungent potpourri of the extraordinary, the unusual and the rare. Turns our notions of Victorian prudery, propriety and voyeurism upside down. Brilliantly researched and written with great verve.

Neil McKenna, author of Fanny and Stella, and The Secret Life of Oscar Wilde

John Woolf's book will dazzle you with details of extraordinary lives, long underestimated by history.

Matthew Sweet, broadcaster and author of Inventing the Victorians

Highly readable. The life stories of those paid to be gazed at and ridiculed have been deftly teased from the archives, providing a sympathetic account of these amazing individuals.

Sarah Wise, author of Inconvenient People, and The Blackest Streets

As an actor and writer who has also performed in contemporary freak shows for many years, I find this book a refreshingly integrated and balanced account of these amazing lives.

Mat Fraser, writer, disability artist and actor in 'American Horror Story, Freak Show

A remarkable book. Painstakingly researched and beautifully written, John Woolf tells a brilliant and vibrant history.

Katharine Norbury, author of 'The Fish Ladder

There is so much to see at the Freak Show which Woolf provides his readers; and he makes it clear that it does the memory of these amazing artists a disservice to avert your eyes.

Therese Oneill, author of 'Unmentionable

Explores with subtlety and consideration the many facets of humanity’s strangeness. A really excellent book and an important study of the physically marginalized and neglected.

Clive Bloom, author of 'Victoria's Madmen

Exceptional. The Wonders shines a bright light on the real human experiences behind Victorian freak spectacles. With carefully researched historical detail and a knack for storytelling, Woolf’s style is impressive.

Lillian Craton, author of 'The Victorian Freak Show

An intriguing and fascinating look into the world of 'freaks'. Beautifully researched and well written.

Richard Butchins, award-winning artist and disabled filmmaker

A 'remarkable social history

The Guardian

Sales points:

  • A never-before-told story, using newly discovered materials e.g. 700 letters written by P. T. Barnum, accounts from performers' family members, journals etc

  • The Wonders gives a voice to the voiceless, wrestling the story from the ‘great men’ of history, and reveals the true story behind the hit film The Greatest Showman

  • For the first time reveals Queen Victoria’s love of freaks and how her endorsement was key to their phenomenal success

  • Published in time for the 200th anniversary of Queen Victoria’s birth (May 2019)

  • Winner of the Biographers Club Tony Lothian Prize 2017 – the best proposal for an uncommissioned first biography

  • Expected endorsements from Dr Woolf’s colleagues, including Stephen Fry and A. N. Wilson, as well as current ‘freak’ performers

  • Dr John Woolf has been conducting research into the book for four years and is an acknowledged expert, with his work informing TV, radio and print media; he will be available for PR

  • Praise for the bestselling Victorian Secrets, cowritten with Stephen Fry: ‘The murky truth behind glorious Victoriana … told with delicious relish.’ Guardian ‘Fantastic.’ BBC Radio 4

About the Author:

John Woolf

Dr John Woolf is a researcher, writer and historian specializing in nineteenth-century cultural history. Having read history at the University of Cambridge, he went on to obtain a PhD on Victorian freak shows and currently works across TV, radio and film. He has most recently co-written the bestselling Audible book Stephen Fry’s Victorian Secrets and has developed and featured in a number of BBC series and documentaries on freak performers and the Victorian period. In 2017, The Wonders was awarded the Biographers’ Club Tony Lothian Prize for the best proposal for an uncommissioned first biography.

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