Menagerie is the story of the panoply of exotic animals that were brought into Britain from time immemorial until the foundation of the London Zoo - a tale replete with the extravagant, the eccentric, and - on occasion - the downright bizarre. From Henry IIIs elephant at the Tower, to George IVs love affair with Britains first giraffe and Lady Castlereaghs recalcitrant ostriches, Caroline Grigsons tour through the centuries amounts to the first detailed history of exotic animals in Britain. On the way we encounter a host of fascinating and outlandish creatures, including the first peacocks and popinjays, Thomas Mores monkey, James Is cassowaries in St Jamess Park, and Lord Clives zebra - which refused to mate with a donkey,until the donkey was painted with stripes.But this is not just the story of the animals themselves. It also the story of all those who came into contact with them: the people who owned them, the merchants who bought and sold them, the seamen who carried them to our shores, the naturalists who wrote about them, the artists who painted them, the itinerant showmen who worked with them, the collectors who collected them. And last but not least, it is about all those who simply came to see and wonder at them, from kings, queens, and noblesto ordinary men, women, and children, often impelled by no more than simple curiosity and a craving for novelty.
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