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The madcap world of the Victorian circus

The madcap world of the Victorian circus

Name: The madcap world of the Victorian circus
Uploaded: 2024-02-21T14:20:22.778Z
Duration: 29 min 2 s
Description: Historian John Woolf introduces the performers and promoters of the Victorian travelling circus, and explains why the entertainment held such appeal for the 19th-century public

Historian John Woolf introduces the performers and promoters of the Victorian travelling circus, and explains why the entertainment held such appeal for the 19th-century public

Dr David Musgrove, FSA

Published: February 22, 2024 at 9:30 AM

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What was it like to step inside the ‘Big Top’ of a 19th-century travelling circus?

In this bonus episode accompanying the HistoryExtra podcast series The Tiger Tamer Who Went to Sea, David Musgrove speaks to Dr John Woolf about the rise of the travelling fair, the railways that allowed its transformation into one of the biggest entertainment spectacles of the era, and the circus’s most famous and complicated characters, from PT Barnum to Buffalo Bill.

Authors

Dr David Musgrove, FSAContent director

David Musgrove is the content director at HistoryExtra

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