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.

How a seemingly mad mission became one of the best-loved places in the world

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.

Reviews
Vivid, entertaining and scrupulously researched * New York Times *
Fascinating ... nostalgia, social and natural history and the ongoing need to change -- Chris Packham
What an incredible story ... a charming and lovely read ... a striking tale of discovery for the people involved and also for us ... you can give this book to anyone -- Jonathan Ross
[A] vivid novelistic retelling . . . An impressive work of imagination and research, as well as a pleasure to read -- PD Smith * The Guardian *
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 -- Dr Richard Barnett, author of 'Medical London'
Terrific. Charman flings open the doors of a cabinet stuffed with zoological and human curios, blows off the dust of a couple of centuries, and talks us expertly and entrancingly through each exhibit -- Charles Foster, author of 'Being a Beast'
Delightful . . . Charman takes the story out of the cages and onto the smoggy, sometimes riotous streets of Victorian London, up and down the country and beyond its shores * Nature *
As I always tell my students, if you wish to understand science you need to understand the people involved in its development. Whilst the animals in a zoo are rightfully the stars of the show - their supporting human cast is no less fascinating and it is this that Isobel Charman has so wonderfully captured in her book. -- Prof. Robert J. Young, Chair in Wildlife Conservation, University of Salford
She succeeds in personalising the story, bringing to life this extraordinary episode in humankind's search for a better understanding of the natural world -- Ian Critchley * Sunday Times *
The book's structure and style is that of a historical novel or Victorian melodrama...it would all make a wonderful seven-part historical costume drama -- Andrew Hartston * Daily Express *
Charman possesses a proper historian's nose for a story and this is a good one -- Sunday Express * John Lewis Stempel *
Charming ... provides a fascinating Zoo's Who of the Victorian naturalists and wildlife enthusiasts who established a 'Noah's Ark' in the heart of the rackety capital * Evening Standard *
Charman crafts an affecting narrative of the first 25 years of the Zoological Society of London . . . The book is nuanced, often entertaining, and also tragic * Publishers Weekly *
[A] sprightly tale of the London Zoo from its conception in 1824 to the death of its longtime president in 1851. As The Zoo engagingly shows us, caring for and observing caged beasts transformed our view of animals-and of ourselves * Wall Street Journal *
Astonishing * Daily Mail *
Deeply moving, fascinating and powerful * Sunday Mirror on 'The Great War' *
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 -- Dr Richard Barnett, author of 'Medical London'



Book Information
ISBN 9780241975060
Author Isobel Charman
Format Paperback
Page Count 368
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 257g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 22mm