Disclosure : This site contains affiliate links to products. We may receive a commission for purchases made through these links.
The Zoo: The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo
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.