The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo - Hardcover

Charman, Isobel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0241240689 ISBN 13: 9780241240687

Publisher: Viking, 2016

Synopsis

How one man's mad mission became one of the best-loved places in the world

The creation of a zoo in Dickensian London - when only one other existed across the world - is a story of jaw-dropping audacity. It is the story of trailblazing scientists, rival zookeepers and aristocratic naturalists collecting amazing animals from all four corners of the globe.

It is the story of a weird and wonderful oasis in the heart of a swirling city, and of incredible characters, both human and animal - from Stamford Raffles and Charles Darwin to Jenny the orang-utan and Obaysch the celebrity hippo, the first that anyone in Britain had ever seen.

Against a background of global Empire, domestic reform and industrialisation, this is a new history of a new world.

About this title

About the Author

Isobel Charman is an award-winning television producer. She has spent the last decade working in factual documentary production as a writer, researcher, producer and director and has worked on award-winning films for UK, European and US broadcasters. For The Zoo she has made unprecedented use of the vast archives at the Zoological Society of London. She lives in London.

From the Back Cover

'A rich, imaginative and original history, written with a film-maker's eye for detail, and starring a remarkable cast of characters. Short of asking the animals themselves, it's hard to think how this might be bettered' - Richard Barnett, author of Medical London

From the Inside Flap

How one man's mad mission became one of the best-loved places in the world

The creation of London Zoo - when only one other existed across the world - is a story of jaw-dropping audacity. It is the story of trailblazing scientists, rival keepers and aristocratic naturalists collecting amazing animals from all around the world - and sending them to what was dubbed "the ark" by the mocking press.

Telling this almost unbelievable true story, Isobel Charman depicts a highly colourful but often forgotten moment in cultural history, through the eyes of incredible characters both famous and unfamiliar - from Stamford Raffles, Lord Stanley and a young Charles Darwin, to the chief competitor, the medical attendant and the head keeper.

And then there are the animals! Based on unprecedented research, Charman describes Tommy the Chimpanzee who lived, homesick, in his keeper's house; the giraffes that walked through the city and scared the cows; and Obaysch the celebrity hippo, the first that anyone in Britain had ever seen.

Against a background of domestic reform and industrialisation, this is the thoroughly refreshing story of the weird and wonderful oasis at the heart of an global empire. It's a new history of a new world.

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0241240689
• ISBN 13: 9780241240687
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 368