And readers are sure to be amazed by the story of how Barnum went from owning a museum filled with rare and unusual items to transforming the American circus into a popular and thrilling phenomenon.

Robert Wilson, editor of The American Scholar, tells a gripping story in Barnum, one that’s imbued with the same buoyant spirit as the man himself.

A biography of the showman who, among other achievements, created a three-ring circus known as "the greatest show on earth" and was active in Connecticut politics.

Reprint of the original, first published in 1882.

The book also features vintage photographs and reproductions of difficult-to-find images from Barnum's two-decade collaboration with the prominent New York lithographers Currier and Ives.