Battle for the Big Top: P.T. Barnum, James Bailey, John Ringling, and the Death-Defying Saga of the American Circus

by Les Standiford

Overview

“Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.” —Gilbert King, Pulitzer Prize–winning author of Devil in the Grove

Millions have sat under the “big top,” watching as trapeze artists glide and clowns entertain, but few know the captivating stories behind the men whose creativity, ingenuity, and determination created one of our country’s most beloved pastimes.

In Battle for the Big Top, New York Times–bestselling author Les Standiford brings to life a remarkable era when three circus kings—James Bailey, P. T. Barnum, and John Ringling—all vied for control of the vastly profitable and influential American Circus. Ultimately, the rivalry of these three men resulted in the creation of an institution that would surpass all intentions and, for 147 years, hold a nation spellbound.
 
Filled with details of their ever-evolving showmanship, business acumen, and personal magnetism, this Ragtime-like narrative will delight and enchant circus-lovers and anyone fascinated by the American experience.  

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781541762268
Publisher:	PublicAffairs
Publication date:	06/15/2021
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Sales rank:	959,165
File size:	41 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Les Standiford is the author of several critically acclaimed books, including Last Train to Paradise, Meet You in Hell, and Bringing Adam Home. His book, The Man Who Invented Christmas, was a New York Times 'Editors' Choice' and was made into a feature film starring Christopher Plummer and Dan Stevens in 2018. He is a Professor of English and Founding Director of the Creative Writing Program at Florida International University and holds a MA and PhD in literature and creative writing from the University of Utah. He attended the US Air Force Academy and Columbia School of Law and is a former screenwriting fellow and graduate of the American Film Institute in Los Angeles. He lives in Miami, Florida.

Hometown:

Miami, Florida

Date of Birth:

October 31, 1945

Place of Birth:

Cambridge, Ohio

Education:

B.A., Muskingum College; M.A. and Ph.D., University of Utah

Table of Contents

Introduction 1

1 World on Fire 5

2 Before the Big Top 9

3 The Periodic Table of Circus Elements 13

4 On American Shores 19

5 Pachyderm on the Half Shell 25

6 Readying for Takeoff 33

7 How They Roll 41

8 What's in a Name? 47

9 Growing a Stake 53

10 Clash of the Titans 59

11 A Showman Hits His Stride 65

12 First Tour of Duty 75

13 Museum Master 81

14 General Tom 87

15 Est Arrivé 93

16 Riches to Rags, and Back Again 99

17 The Circus Comes Calling 107

18 Mr. B, Meet Mr. B 117

19 On Massive Shoulders 123

20 The Greatest Show 131

21 Upstarts 135

22 The Coming Men 141

23 Punch and Counterpunch 147

24 Building a Leviathan 153

25 Terms of Success 159

26 The Price of Love 167

27 Last Man Standing 175

28 Patriarch of Paradise 181

29 The Last Race 189

30 After the Ball 195

31 Out of the Ashes 203

32 Rock and Roll to the Rescue 209

33 What Remains 219

Acknowledgments 225

Notes 227

Bibliography 235

Index 241

Editorial Reviews

04/05/2021

Historian Standiford (Palm Beach, Mar-a-Lago, and the Rise of America’s Xanadu) delivers a zippy history of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus. He traces the roots of the modern circus to 18th-century England, and notes that “a truly indigenous American circus” emerged with the introduction of elephants in the early 19th century. After James Bailey joined his first circus as a 12-year-old orphan in 1859, he became the co-owner of a show in 1873, and a few years later lost nearly half his animals on a steamship journey to Australia and New Zealand. In 1880, P.T. Barnum, who had launched a traveling circus after displaying mermaids and other “natural curiosit” at his Manhattan museum, offered to pay $100,000 for a calf born to one of Bailey’s elephants, and the two men eventually agreed to a merger. John Ringling and his brothers acquired the “Greatest Show on Earth” after Bailey’s death in 1906 and oversaw its golden age before such challenges as the Great Depression, suburban development, television, and animal rights laws eventually led to its closure in 2017. Standiford packs the account with colorful circus lore, and ably sketches contemporaneous developments, such as the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair. Readers will relish this entertaining portrait of a bygone American institution. (June)

Publishers Weekly

Exercising his eye for exotic detail, Les Standiford gives us the charming and captivating saga of the outsized characters who dreamed, connived, and maneuvered to bring Gilded-Age America its most compelling source of entertainment—the circus. What a surprise to learn that behind all those bejeweled elephants and hair-raising acts lay a cutthroat battle to create the Greatest Show on Earth.”—Erik Larson, author of The Splendid and the Vile

“A mesmerizing, larger-than-life tale from brilliant storyteller Les Standiford—P.T. Barnum himself would tell you it's well worth the price of admission. With acrobatic grace and escalating suspense, Standiford documents the evolution of the American circus, in a masterful work of nonfiction as spell-binding as the monsters, mermaids, balletic elephants and charismatic ringleaders that fill its pages.”—Karen Russell, author of the New York Times bestseller Swamplandia!

“Battle for the Big Top is as rollicking, infectious, and enthralling as the subject it covers. With verve and style to spare, Les Standiford spins an unforgettable and addictively readable yarn about the three great showmen of the wildest of all entertainments—the American Circus. What a blast.”—Dennis Lehane, author of Mystic River and Shutter Island

“An epic work of Americana that gives you a front row seat inside the big top. Les Standiford delves deeply into the history of one of America’s favorite and oldest pastimes, examining the three dynamic men who revolutionized it.”—Brad Meltzer, bestselling author of The Lincoln Conspiracy

“Les Standiford understands that to know the American soul, one needs to understand the circus.  Ambitious, insightful and chock full of exotic lore, Battle for the Big Top goes beyond the ballyhoo and delivers the strange and fascinating history of the Greatest Show on Earth.”—Stewart O’Nan, author of The Circus Fire

"Les Standiford takes us under the big top and behind the curtain in this richly researched and thoroughly engaging narrative that captures all of the entrepreneurial intrigue and spirit of the American circus.  Fascinating and endlessly entertaining, you won't be able to put Battle for the Big Top down."—Gilbert King, Pulitzer prizewinning author of Devil in the Grove

“A blow-by-blow account of the rivalry among James Bailey, John Ringling, P.T. Barnum, and other players in the American circus world…Fans of the circuses of old, as well as students of popular culture, will enjoy this look back.”—Kirkus Reviews

“A zippy history of Ringling Bros. Barnum & Bailey Circus… Standiford packs the account with colorful circus lore…Readers will relish this entertaining portrait of a bygone American institution.”—Publishers Weekly

"An engaging stroll down memory lane for children of all ages."—Virginia Gazette

From the Publisher

04/30/2021

The irony of the modern circus is that some of the very factors that caused its emergence as big business in the late 19th century are precisely what led to its demise two centuries later; the reliance upon trained wild animals is what made the circus so appealing to aficionados of earlier eras, yet it was out of touch with 21st-century sentiments. In this work, Standiford (director, Creative Writing Program, Florida International Univ.; Last Train to Paradise) showcases his ability to make narrative history read like a novel, as he traces the roots of the circus from the classical era to its arrival and popularity in the 19th-century United States. The circus began with the spectacle of high-performance horsemanship, but the addition of elephants and clowns transformed the circus into its modern form. While hundreds of circuses had been traversing the country throughout the 19th century, three principal showmen (James Bailey, P.T. Barnum, and John Ringling) eventually emerged to vie for the center ring of the U.S. circus industry. Their entrepreneurial spirits, flamboyant personalities, and creative (if often questionable) business practices make for a great story. VERDICT The three kingpins of the American circus are the men whose names became synonymous with this phenomenon; it's well-worth learning their story through Standiford's skillful cultural history.—Carol Elsen, Univ. of Wisconsin, Whitewater Libs.

Library Journal

Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, author Les Standiford expounds upon the rise and fall of the Greatest Show on Earth—otherwise known as the circus. Narrator B.J. Harrison’s inviting voice will charm listeners as he captures Standiford’s enthusiasm for his subject. Circuses fell on hard times and harder times, which led to their demise, principally due to the successful efforts of animal rights activists. Nonetheless, there is something quite American about their stories, which are replete with the varied personalities of Barnum, Bailey, and Ringling and tales of their intense entrepreneurial rivalries. It’s all here—tragedy and triumph, as well as revealing data on just how profitable these enterprises were in their heyday. Enjoy Harrison’s beautifully enunciated excursion through this history lesson. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JULY 2021 - AudioFile

Ladies and gentlemen and children of all ages, author Les Standiford expounds upon the rise and fall of the Greatest Show on Earth—otherwise known as the circus. Narrator B.J. Harrison’s inviting voice will charm listeners as he captures Standiford’s enthusiasm for his subject. Circuses fell on hard times and harder times, which led to their demise, principally due to the successful efforts of animal rights activists. Nonetheless, there is something quite American about their stories, which are replete with the varied personalities of Barnum, Bailey, and Ringling and tales of their intense entrepreneurial rivalries. It’s all here—tragedy and triumph, as well as revealing data on just how profitable these enterprises were in their heyday. Enjoy Harrison’s beautifully enunciated excursion through this history lesson. W.A.G. © AudioFile 2021, Portland, Maine

JULY 2021 - AudioFile

2021-03-30
A blow-by-blow account of the rivalry among James Bailey, John Ringling, P.T. Barnum, and other players in the American circus world.

“When entertaining the public, it is best to have an elephant,” said Barnum, who knew a thing or two about wowing the public. Captive elephants were at the center of his extravaganzas, as they were of other circuses until, in 2015, the last of the 19th-century organizations struck the tent after animal rights activists succeeded in delivering the elephants from bondage. That last firm, as popular historian Standiford chronicles, was Ringling Brothers, whose namesakes were long gone. A former rock ’n’ roll entrepreneur named Kenneth Feld now headed the company, his head stocked with hard data on every playable venue on the continent. Bailey, whose rival circus was pleasing audiences in the late 19th century, made headlines when an elephant in his troupe gave birth, “the calf described as the first ever born in captivity in the United States.” Barnum offered “the then-astronomical sum of $100,000 for the calf; when Bailey refused, his admiring rival offered a partnership instead, giving birth to what would become the Barnum and Bailey consortium. Standiford is a capable ringmaster over a complicated tale with many moving parts. As he notes, getting a circus before the public required “the seamless integration of five business endeavors running side by side,” from railroads to hotels to “the entertainment business itself, the only one of which produced any income.” Standiford’s narrative lacks the intellectual heft of Louis S. Warren’s Buffalo Bill’s America (2005) as a study of evolving tastes in popular pastimes, but he tells a good story all the same and with a sobering moral: The circus probably wouldn’t survive today now that, as one scholar puts it, “the trend in technology in recent years has been to push individuals into greater and greater electronic isolation.”

Fans of the circuses of old, as well as students of popular culture, will enjoy this look back.

Kirkus Reviews