This is a well written easy to read history performers in England during the Victorian age. Some of the performers will be familiar and others have been forgotten to time. I learned a lot about entertainment during this time. Most of the stories have unhappy ending. Accompanying the text are lots of historical photographs. Enjoy this interesting book

Thank you to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this title. An easy to read tome on the history and sad tales that were part of the rise and fall of the freak show. The emphasis is on dwarfs and especially
Colonel Tom Thumb but other famous and not so famous exhibits are accounted for. This is an unhappy but informative book.

The Victorian age brought about the strange concept of "the freak show." While folks were fascinated by physical oddities, they often forgot about the person behind the display. General Tom Thumb was just 25 inches tall. The world's largest man was incredibly shy about his body, but knew this was how he could make a living. Historian John Woolf takes readers into the histories of those who have been forgotten in everything but their physical features and has given them their rich histories back. In The Wonders he is careful to show how these incredible performers were often exploited and how many had difficulties making a living any other way. 

This book does feature some pretty sad histories, so be prepared. I for one had no idea that dwarves and people of small stature were often given to royalty or members of nobility as gifts. People would literally gift their children. One was even presented to a queen in a pie shell (he was alive and the crust was cool). 

If you want to know the people behind the moniker "freak show" The Wonders is an incredible book to pick up.

Even-handed look at the evolution of freakshows. Well-researched, thorough, without becoming equally sensational or exploitive. This was an interesting, if unhappy, read.

The Wonders is wonderful! Exploring the lives of those who were considered "freaks" and what they went through is fascinating. What I find most intriguing about this book is the close look that it takes on the culture of the time. As the book moves through time, and the culture evolves, so does the thinking on what it means to be a freak and the parallels to the development of marketing and entertainment. There is a lot to digest in The Wonders, and it is worth the read!