CIRCUS PARADE By John S. Clarke
Circus Parade (Batsford, 7s. 6d.) will delight everybody who loves a circus, for if there is one turn which an audience would like to, yet never does, see, it is surely " a peep behind the scenes." Mr. Clarke has been Member of Parlia- ment and a wild animal tattier, and all his life intimately connected with every type of circus, and counts nearly all the well-known figures of the circus world as his friends, and his book is free from the affectation and sentimentalism of the enthusiastic amateur. First he traces very briefly the history of the circus, then reviews in fascinating detail the various classes of performers, de- scribing and analysing the acts of all the well-known past and present eques- trians, aerialists, jugglers, clowns, wild- animal-tamers and the rest. His chapter on wild animal taming should finally put to rest the fears of animal- lovers who believe that it is cruel to make animals perform. The continual exercise Of wits'. and body gives them an outlet for their instincts and a circus lion lives a more natural and healthier life than his bored and inactive brother in the zoo.
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