The cover page is adapted from The Circus, a painting completed in 1912 by George Bellows. The cover and title pages feature the League Spartan and Sorts Mill Goudy typefaces created in 2014 and 2009 by The League of Moveable Type. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/George_Bellowswww.theleagueofmoveabletype.com/
Struggles and Triumphs
Chapters (52)
- Dedication 0:00
- Preface 0:10
- I: Early Life 5:34
- II: Incidents and Anecdotes 29:51
- III: In Business for Myself 46:21
- IV: Struggles for a Livelihood 1:10:51
- V: My Start as a Showman 1:33:15
- VI: My First Travelling Company 2:01:00
- VII: At the Foot of the Ladder 2:34:37
- VIII: The American Museum 2:56:35
- IX: The Road to Riches 3:28:08
- X: Another Successful Speculation 4:09:49
- XI: General Tom Thumb in England 4:39:39
- XII: In France 5:02:30
- XIII: In Belgium 5:42:52
- XIV: In England Again 6:10:06
- XV: Return to America 6:39:14
- XVI: At Home 7:07:42
- XVII: The Jenny Lind Enterprise 7:34:32
- XVIII: The Nightingale in New York 8:03:14
- XIX: Successful Management 8:32:40
- XX: Incidents of the Tour 9:08:35
- XXI: Jenny Lind 9:37:29
- XXII: Close of the Campaign 9:56:07
- XXIII: Other Enterprises 10:15:27
- XXIV: Work and Play 10:45:09
- XXV: The Jerome Clock Company Entanglement 11:11:36
- XXVI: Clouds and Sunshine 11:32:15
- XXVII: Rest, but Not Rust 12:00:26
- XXVIII: Abroad Again 12:17:20
- XXIX: In Germany 12:36:32
- XXX: In Holland 12:56:15
- XXXI: The Art of Money Getting 13:23:53
- XXXII: An Enterprising Englishman 15:01:06
- XXXIII: Richard’s Himself Again 15:20:23
- XXXIV: Menagerie and Museum Memoranda 15:44:50
- XXXV: East Bridgeport 16:21:03
- XXXVI: More About the Museum 16:43:23
- XXXVII: Mr. and Mrs. General Tom Thumb 17:23:24
- XXXVIII: Political and Personal 18:15:24
- XXXIX: The American Museum in Ruins 19:08:20
- XL: My War on the Railroads 19:41:23
- XLI: Bennett and the Herald 20:13:08
- XLII: Public Lecturing 20:33:17
- XLIII: The New Museum 21:04:50
- XLIV: Curious Coincidences.—Number Thirteen 21:35:48
- XLV: A Story-Chapter 21:53:30
- XLVI: Seaside Park 23:05:48
- XLVII: Waldemere 23:29:00
- Appendix I: Rest Only Found in Action 23:54:37
- Appendix II: A Remarkable Campaign 25:18:54
- Conclusion 25:55:31
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Struggles and Triumphs is the autobiography of P. T. Barnum, the celebrated American showman. Though subtitled Forty Years’ Recollections, it covers a period of over 60 years, from his birth in 1810, to the later years of his career in the 1870s.
Barnum has an engaging style, and his autobiography is crammed with many amusing and interesting incidents as he tells how he learned to make money entertaining the public through circuses, “freak shows,” theatrical presentations, concert tours and the like. On the way he builds up an impressive fortune, only to lose it all through a fraudulous speculation perpetrated on him. Then he starts again, pays off his debts and builds up another, greater fortune. Though often labelled as a “humbug” or “a mere charlatan” it’s clear that the majority of his contemporary Americans held him in affectionate regard.
However modern readers may be upset by Barnum’s rather cavalier treatment of the animals under his care in the various menageries and aquariums he created, and be distressed by the details of how they were lost in the several fires which destroyed Barnum’s Museums.
Also of great interest are Barnum’s philanthropic endeavours: lecturing on teetotalism; supporting negro equality; and funding civic developments.