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Werken van Michael Daly

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It's not just a history of late 20th Century NYPD triumphs and tribulations. It's a reminder to all of us who know the value of good policing in this era of assassinations of police, publicity about the worst enemy of police everywhere--bad cops, and the movement to defund the police. It's also a moving bio of several people who were responsible for reversing negative trends in police effectiveness against rampant criminal activity in our most iconic city. Meet the game changers who truly made a difference in how things should be done. A fantastic read!
I requested and received a free e-book copy from Twelve Books/Twelve via NetGalley. Thank you!
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jetangen4571 | Dec 13, 2022 |
I imagine the publisher had some difficulty in coming up with a title for this book, because the topics include the story of P.T. Barnum and other circus competitors and their mistreatment of their circus elephants; the story of Thomas Edison and his unsavory competition with George Westinghouse in the best way to develop electricity for houses and businesses, and the sub-plot of animal experimentation during the development of the electric chair. It can’t be easy to find a way to draw-in readers with topics such as these, so, as they settled on adding "Topsy", one of the circus elephants, in the title, promising “…a touching tale and an entertaining read”.
When I described parts of this book describing animal mistreatment to friends, a frequent response was: Oh my God, how can you keep reading it?” But I was drawn into the book, despite some of the difficult portions. It is a look back at life in the late 1800’s and early 1900’s in America, about the development of the circus which many of us have grown up with, and of course the story of early electrification of the Country. The history of that time was interesting, and tying that history together with the story of the circus elephants was a creative way to pull these stories together.
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rsutto22 | 4 andere besprekingen | Jul 15, 2021 |
I have not read a book that left me so enraged at humanity in a very long time. I knew when I started what would happen to Topsy, but it was no less jarring and despicable. She was a baby elephant when she was taken from her mother and herd and shipped to the United States to live the rest of her life in circuses and captivity. She could have been just another elephant forgotten to history if she had not been cruelly electrocuted in a public display, her death forever immortalized on film, linking her in perpetuity with a reprehensible Thomas Edison.

This book takes us through the life of Topsy and the history of the world she lived in. Daly weaves her story with the story of circus elephants, the circuses of Forepaugh and Barnum & Bailey, the War of the Currents involving Westinghouse and Edison, and Coney Island. He creates a vivid picture of the late 1800s and the first years of the 1900s.

Since the publication of this book, many states, including New York State, have banned elephants from circuses, and Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus has ceased. I can take solace in that because it means we are progressing towards a more just existence. However, we still have a way to go until wild animals are completely banned in circuses.

I absolutely fell in love with Topsy and was devastated when reading of her death. Daly depicts her as smart and sociable. She should have been allowed to live out the end of her days in peace and deserved so much better than she received.
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Carlie | 4 andere besprekingen | Apr 28, 2018 |
An engrossing book that brings vividly to life a fascinating era of American history, science, and entertainment populated with absorbing portraits of intriguing figures like Thomas Edison, George Westinghouse, and P.T. Barnum, and how their lives intersected. The book is also revealing of typical attitudes toward animal welfare, particularly the treatment of them in circuses and "scientific" experiments at the time. Those revelations caused a great deal of cringing and gasps of disgust on my part. Not for the faint-hearted.… (meer)
 
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Sullywriter | 4 andere besprekingen | May 22, 2015 |

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Werken
7
Leden
179
Populariteit
#120,383
Waardering
½ 3.7
Besprekingen
8
ISBNs
19

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