List of Illustrations
Acknowledgments
Introduction: Entering the Gates
Chapter 1: Gardens of History
Chapter 2: Catching Animals
Chapter 3: "Fabulous Animals": Showing People
Chapter 4: Paradise
Conclusion: When Animals Speak
Notes
A Note on Sources
Index
Nigel Rothfels received his Ph.D. in history from Harvard University. He is an independent scholar and director of the Edison Initiative at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee.
Rothfels is attuned to the ironies pervading zoos' mediation of
people and animals and understands that zoos operate according to
entrepreneurial rather than environmental principles . . . The
history of human displays conducted under the guise of anthropology
and ethnography has been documented before, but never with such a
keen sense of connection between these and zoo operations. Rothfels
uses the experience of Carl Hagenbeck, a 19th-century animal dealer
and a prominent force behind both zoos and human displays, to
document the insidious links between the two enterprises: part of
the sordid historical legacy that zoos have never confronted, much
less expunged.
—Chronicle of Higher Education
Rothfels . . . focuses on the 19th-century origins of modern zoos
and the man who made it all happen. Carl Hagenbeck, a German animal
dealer and zoo visionary, was the owner of the first zoo without
bars, and he invented the use of a moated display and many other
now-standard techniques. Savages and Beasts is a fine read, in
which good use of picture archives has complemented the writer's
extensive documentary research.
—New Scientist
It is Nigel Rothfels' great service to show how Carl Hagenbeck's
growing experience in mounting his ethnographic spectacles, and his
observation of the public's reception of them, led to ideas
culminating in a new kind of zoological park . . . Rothfels has
written a genuinely important book for anyone interested in zoos,
his perspective is new and convincing.
—International Zoo News
Convincingly argues that the image of Hagenbeck as a modern-day
Noah, a great animal lover trying to educate the public about the
wonders of nature, belies the basic nature of Hagenbeck's
enterprise. That enterprise had very little to do with love for
animals, and everything to do with making money. More generally,
Rothfels raises questions about past practices of exhibiting
animals (and people) and about what zoos of the present are all
about.
—Journal of the History of Biology
Important, timely, and stimulating . . . A rich source on so much;
Rothfel's account of Hagenbeck's consolidation of the animal trade,
for instance, is exemplary, the mobilization of much research into
a lucid exposition of overarching trends.
—Anthrozoös
This is much more than a history of Hagenbeck's many successes. It
is an historical explanation for why the environments of zoos today
are meant to mask the human character of the places in which
animals are forced to live their unnatural lives.
—American Historical Review
The book is a good read and provides an interesting historical
perspective . . . In short, this is an interesting book; it tells
the story of [Carl] Hagenbeck, his peoples and animals from a
slightly different perspective.
—Animal Welfare
Rothfels's work elucidates how zoos offer a carefully scripted
version of how human beings should understand animals.
—Commonweal
A fascinating if disturbing tale of animal and human display.
—German Studies Review
Savages and Beasts is an excellent book: Rothfels' arguments are
subtle and well documented, and complemented by an excellent
selection of photographs and illustrations.
—Limina
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