From P.T. Barnum's Greatest Show on Earth to the fictional circus depicted in Sara Gruen's bestselling novel "Water for Elephants," the circus is an event that is inextricable from American pop culture. "The American Circus" explores this form of entertainment in America, touching on everything from the role of physical disabilities in the circus to the question of why lions became such an important part of circus acts. ("Lions proved particularly traninable and provided an ideal embodiment of late-nineteenth-century ideas of Africa and empire," Weber explains.) The book's stories are accompanied by black-and-white and color photographs, such as that of circus performer Louis Roth with his menagerie of lions.
