The Rose-Tinted Menagerie

the long version

From the circus amphitheatres of ancient Rome, to the first travelling dolphin shows in America, Europe and the Far East… From the global trade in wild animals, to the captive chimps and dolphins exploited as tools of war… Through two thousand years of history, The Rose-Tinted Menagerie explores the human attitudes that have shaped our species' conquest-driven relationship with nature as a whole, a psychology as evident in the taming of the wild beast for the circus arena, argues the author, as in the razing of forests or the mass extinction of species. ‘An outstanding investigation…’ — Naomi Lewis, Books of the Year, The Observer ‘A ground-breaking work… of great importance…’ — Tom Regan