{"product_id":"9780241975060","title":"The Zoo : The Wild and Wonderful Tale of the Founding of London Zoo","description":"\u003cp\u003e Author(s): Charman, Isobel \u003cbr\u003e Binding: Paperback, \u003cbr\u003e Date of Publication: 06\/07\/2017,\u003cbr\u003e Pagination: 368 pages,\u003cbr\u003e ISBN13\\EAN\\SKU: 9780241975060,\u003cbr\u003e Description: \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHow one man's mad mission became one of the best-loved places in the worldThe 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eTelling 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd 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.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAgainst 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.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Griffin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43697965170732,"sku":"9780241975060","price":15.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0379\/1365\/7388\/files\/9780241975060.jpg?v=1722609575","url":"https:\/\/www.griffinbooksonline.co.uk\/products\/9780241975060","provider":"Griffin Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}