The Amusement Park: 900 Years of Thrills and Spills, and the Dreamers and Schemers Who Built Them

by Stephen M. Silverman

Overview

Experience the electrifying, never-before-told true story of amusement parks, from the middle ages to present day, and meet the colorful (and sometimes criminal) characters who are responsible for their enchanting charms.

Step right up! The Amusement Park is a rich, anecdotal history that begins nine centuries ago with the "pleasure gardens" of Europe and England and ends with the most elaborate modern parks in the world. It's a history told largely through the stories of the colorful, sometimes hedonistic characters who built them, including:

• Showmen like Joseph and Nicholas Schenck and Marcus Loew
• Railroad barons Andrew Mellon and Henry E. Huntington
• The men who ultimately destroyed the parks, including Robert Moses and Fred Trump
• Gifted artisans and craft-people who brought the parks to life
• An amazing cast of supporting players, from Al Capone to Annie Oakley

And, of course, this is a full-throttle celebration of the rides, those marvels of engineering and heart-stopping thrills from an author, Stephen Silverman, whose life-long passion for his subject shines through. The parks and fairs featured include the 1893 Chicago World's Fair, Coney Island, Steeplechase Park, Dreamland, Euclid Beach Park, Cedar Point, Palisades Park, Ferrari World, Dollywood, Sea World, Six Flags Great Adventure, Universal Studios, Disney World and Disneyland, and many more.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780316416474
Publisher:	Workman Publishing Company
Publication date:	05/07/2019
Sold by:	Hachette Digital, Inc.
Format:	eBook
Pages:	432
File size:	45 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Stephen M. Silverman was a twenty-year veteran of Time Inc. and was the founding editor of People.com. He was the author of The Amusement Park as well as The Catskills: Its History and How It Changed America among many other titles. His work appeared in Esquire, Harper's Bazaar, The New York Times, The Times (London), Vogue, and The Washington Post. 

Table of Contents

Remain Seated 10

Part 1 The Fun Begins

All's Fair 17

Royal Retreat 24

Vaux Populi 31

Earthly Delights 41

Humdinger 46

Horseplay 55

Skulduggery 63

Restless Spirits 69

Son of Blubber 76

Part 2 Getting Serious

The Beach Is Divine 87

Surf and Turf 99

What Goes Around 111

Next Chapter 126

Water Works 131

Snakes at a Picnic 143

Riding the Wave 152

Catching Clouds 161

Part 3 A New Epoch

To the Moon 177

Fortune's Folly 189

Just Add Flames 196

Shaking Things Up 205

Off the Rails 215

Caution to the Wind 228

Sugar Rush 236

Hold on Tight 243

Part 4 Beating a Path

By Land and Sea 259

Birds of a Feather 270

Sink or Swim 275

Salt of the Earth 286

Moving Right Along 292

Grand Slam 303

New Worlds 317

Finishing Touches 333

On the Horizon 341

Quidditch, Anyone? 356

Acknowledgments 361

Bibliography 364

Notes 391

Illustration Credits 425

Index 426

Editorial Reviews

"A vivid — often ardent — history... A legitimate way to study American cultural and social history... Even in this digital age, it seems, there's a craving for communal diversion, and for gathering agog crowds before a shared spectacle."—Wall Street Journal

"Spectacular...lavishly illustrated, deeply researched and widely enjoyable."—Chicago Tribune

"[The Amusement Park is] rich with anecdotes that complement its easy-to-read style; truly this book is suggested for those who have a strong interest in the subject as well as for those interested in American recreational culture of the 19th and 20th centuries... This ambitious project could possibly be considered the definitive work on the history of what is considered today the Amusement Park."—Boston City Paper



"[The Amusement Park] is stunningly writ­ten while being both entertaining and vastly informative.... A must for any­one with interest in the business of fun."

—Tim Baldwin, Amusement Today

"Compelling."—New York Post

"The most fascinating part of the book is the schemers and dreamers who made [the parks] all become reality all the way back to the Venice ferris wheel, to P.T. Barnum, Walt Disney and to the latest from Universal Studios, Disney and Six Flags... It's a perfect summer book."—Provokr

"Starting with the Middle Ages, Silverman traces the path from European 'pleasure gardens' to Universal Studios, profiling the colorful characters who created amusement parks and the rides that drew customers."—Publishers Weekly, Spring Announcements feature

From the Publisher