Wonders

A radical new history that rediscovers the remarkable freak performers whose talents and charisma helped define an era.

On March 23, 1844, General Tom Thumb, just 25 inches tall, entered the Picture Gallery at Buckingham Palace and bowed low to Queen Victoria. This meeting marked a tipping point in the nineteenth century, and the age of the freak was born. Dwarfs, giants, bearded ladies, Siamese twins, and swaggering showmen-- it was a world of spectacle. But their real stories have often been forgotten or marginalized in the histories of the very people who exploited them. Woolf uses recently discovered material to bring to life the sometimes tragic, sometimes triumphant stories of people who used their (dis)abilities and difference to become some of the first international celebrities. -- adapted from jacket