Today, performing animals are frowned on by many but in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, traveling menageries afforded entertainment for the masses. The Bostock family were famous in England at the time, for traveling around the country with a bevy of wild animals, many not seen before in provincial towns. If these animals could be trained to perform "tricks", rather than behave more naturally, so much the better. This volume gives an insight into the training and care of assorted animals. - Summary by Lynne Thompson
