Jumbo: The Unauthorised Biography of a Victorian Sensation

by John Sutherland

Born in 1861 in French Sudan, imported to Paris as a two year old calf, then later sold to the London Zoo at Regent's Park, Jumbo the elephant delighted countless children (including Winston Churchill and Theodore Roosevelt) with rides and treats gently taken from outstretched hands. Each night, after the children and their families had gone home, he was mistreated in an attempt to keep him docile. By the time he reached sexual maturity, the abused and isolated animal had become dangerously unstable. He was sold to showman P.T. Barnum in 1881 (despite letters from 100,000 British schoolchildren who wrote to Queen Victoria begging her to prevent the sale) and brought to America. There, in the company of other elephants and amid greater physical freedom, Jumbo stabilized and went on to become one of the most lucrative circus acts of all time - as well as the most beloved. The world mourned when his life ended in 1885, with a storied (and most likely embellished) act of animal heroism. Jumbo reportedly rushed in front of an oncoming train in an effort to save a smaller elephant â?? his companion "Tom Thumb" â?? then perished while reaching his trunk out toward his longtime handler Matthew Scott â?? whose intense connection with the pachyderm spawned legends of its own.

Integrating the history of elephants in captivity along with the details of Jumbo's celebrity life, dramatic death, and lasting cultural legacy, John Sutherland has written the first comprehensive "biography" of this incredible animal - one whose name has given us one of our most common and hyperbolic adjectives.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Animals, Biography

291 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2013

About the author

John Andrew Sutherland is a British academic, newspaper columnist and author. He is Emeritus Lord Northcliffe Professor of Modern English Literature at University College London.

Reviews

[Elizabeth · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's ironic that a book about an elephant who was larger than life tries to portray itself as being bigger than it actually is. Jumbo was a likable read even though the material was stretched a bit thin. The writing style was tedious, yet bearable (the author is quite fond of the parentheses). The biography portion about Jumbo was interesting, short and semi-sweet. A large portion of the book covered various elephant tangents -- some Victorian, most modern topics. There's even a Dumbo chapter and the author's breakdown of the connections to his namesake. The narration after Jumbo's death is progressively weaker. It was a chore finishing the last chapter of seemingly random a culmination of miscellaneous elephant facts.

The biggest thing this book has going for it is the shock-factor. There is no small share of elephant horror stories including tales of gruesome handlers and (truly) shocking deaths. The care and treatment of threatened wild animals will always be a hot subject. You only need to name these big three to get online campaigns a-blazing: polar bears, (killer) whales, and elephants. There's more packed inside Jumbo than the title proclaims and I wonder if the intent was to be purposely misleading for triggering elephant activism. If so I'd say it fits snugly somewhere between titles like "Free Jumbo" and "Blacktrunk".

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I’m still unsure quite what to make of this book. On the one hand it makes interesting reading, encompassing much more than simply Jumbo the elephant, serving as a miscellany on a variety of other famous elephants, linguistic origins, historical tidbits and Jumbo *related* information (eg. Jumbo jets). Sutherland says as much at the beginning, signposting books that are more Jumbo-centric, allowing him the scope to explore some of the big characters - directly or indirectly - linked with Jumbo. But the tone in places is choppy, feeling at times like a mission to ensure no side research got left behind (which the final chapter, Epilogue: Elephant Miscellany, is a blatant exercise in rather than the traditional topic summerising you’d expect! Its a jumbled appendix - not an actual epilogue.)

Whilst I did enjoy dipping in and out of this book and I know I will re-visit it, I’m not 100% as to the target audience here. History lovers will enjoy it, but I wouldn’t dare put it in the hands of anyone sensitive or an animal lover. There’s a lot of quite graphic detail in regards to elephant execution, with the hanging of ‘murderous’ Mary, electrocuting Topsy and the slaughtering for consumption of Paris’ Castor & Pollux, just three incidents of many (Not forgetting Jumbo and the train accident/non-accident?) Believe me, you’ll lose sleep, and its the first time I’ve had to put down a book so I could run out for some fresh air.

My big issue - the debate between this book being a 2* or a 4* - was the reliability of the information. There are citations which I greatly appreciate, but there are times that this moves from interesting non-fiction to heavily subjective opinion. Dogs - only interested in the dung of other dogs? Really? Many a dog-owner will also know the joy that is your faithful canine’s spontaneous decision to roll around in a cowpat or two, or gobble up some sheep droppings because... yum? Having re-read that section a few times, I cannot work out if this is clumsy writing and he means elephants or if I should be sending the author my future pups for civilising! Sutherland also opens with a chapter on Colchester - elephant obsessed Colchester. As it happens, back in the days you could study Archaeology, Classical Civilisations and look into Museum Studies at A-Level, I was in that area of the world. Aside from the watertower being called Jumbo, elephants never came up. In two years. Not once. As an introduction to get me snorting and sceptical of everthing to follow, this was top notch!

All in, I liked this book. I was both entertained and came away richer in elephant-related knowledge... I’m slightly traumatised by the horrendous elephant executions/murder but it was genuinely interesting and I know this will get read through again at some point. Now, however, I’m going to hide my copy so lovely elephant-adoring souls like my mother won’t pick it up when they visit, lured by the sweet sanitised vintage-chic cover of Jumbo giving children rides that completely suckered me! (Frankly, Barnum-worthy suckering!!!)

[Suzanne · Rating 4 out of 5]

I got more than I bargained for with this book .. I was simply looking for more of the history of Jumbo the elephant following the brilliant documentary hosted by David Attenborough recently .. Here we are treated to the history of mans love, hate and use of these wonderful animals, and the meaning of Jumbo. Starting with the Romans use of elephants on their battlefields, through to the historic watertower in nearby Colchester and the nickname for an aeroplane, the legendary story of one elephant is encompassed by these additional facts.
The story of Jumbo himself, is full of intrigue, hidden adgendas, money and lies .. mistreatment, misunderstanding and manipulation by man, finishing with the controversy surrounding his untimely death. Sadly, nothing like the love Walt Disney gave his namesake, Dumbo .. If only it wasn't true !

[Jim S · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've always been fascinated by Jumbo, partly because he met his untimely end in St Thomas Ontario, very close to where I live.

Actually Sutherland just uses Jumbo as a jumping off point to hold forth on a number of issues, e.g. Victorian England, big game hunting, environmentalism and, of course, all things elephantine.

But I wasn't prepared for how sad Jumbo's story was, it seems to be one long tale of animal abuse and when the story is expanded to talk about the history of both zoos and circuses the scope of the abuse just increases. Thankfully we are now taking a more enlightened and respectful view of these magnificent beasts and this abuse is being curtailed.

The level of writing is acceptable but often Sutherland assumes a snarky tone and I could have done with less of his sarcastic asides.

[Kelly Mander · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not convinced that the title really befits the content, but I really enjoyed it all the same. I feel like it should advertise more explicitly that this is a history of the modern day obsession with elephants and their place in global culture, but the life of Jumbo is a useful vehicle for this, I suppose. I have, since reading, spouted many of the facts within to colleagues and friends willing to listen! Lost a star due to the flamboyant writing style which wasn't my cup of tea. Still a really enjoyable and informative read.

[Amy · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a weird book. It's a collection of loosely-sourced factoids about Jumbo, about elephants, about zoo and circus animals, and other tangentially related items tossed in. Enjoyable to read, and eye-opening in some ways. I spotted a few places where the phrasing was inaccurate or the statements flat wrong, where it was a subject I already knew a little bit about, and that made me question everything else I was reading - that made it less enjoyable than it would otherwise have been.

[Michelle Hanson · Rating 1 out of 5]

Was this man paid per comma?

Depressing, unpleasant, repetitive, and practically unreadable thanks to an overabundance if punctuation. The titular elephant is dead before the halfway point of the book and the rest is padded out with poorly tied-in anecdotes about other elephants (and more parenthetical statements and puns than any poor pachyderm deserves).

[Ray Quirolgico · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author tells the story of Jumbo the elephant and adds scientific points about elephants in general throughout. Unfortunately that innovative combination feels uneven and I would have enjoyed a more straightforward biography of the animal, not a narrative that becomes a starting point for a natural history of the animal.

[Derelict Space Sheep · Rating 3 out of 5]

42 WORD REVIEW:

An indictment of human nature, jocose in delivery but starkly illustrated by way of a potted history of man’s gross mistreatment of elephants over the centuries. Special attention is paid to Jumbo, who, behind his fame, was just another sorely abused pachyderm.

[Apriel · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting book about Jumbo with plenty of interesting tangents about elephants in general.

[Gail harris]

Sad, what humane have done to elephants, the end was the worse of all the elephant books ending in the death in the US, what have we done? How could we continue for generations decimating the most majestic beautiful feeling humanlike animal.
Read in 1 day.
How can you rate a book that is horrific to the baby they buy to the end of their long suffered life. Of course we really have no idea how many babies were murdered or adults.
Elephants in the wild spend their entire lives together with their families. How many humanes can say that?

[Jo-anne Atkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Born in the wilds of Africa, a young bull elephant was shipped to Europe and became an exhibit in paris. Sick and close to death he was sold to London Zoo and became Jumbo, a popular exhibit for Victorians. Finally sold and exported to the USA Jumbo joined Phineas T Barnum's circus before his controversial and shocking death. In this biography Sutherland tells the story of Jumbo and also of man's relationship with elephants.

Sutherland is an excellent writer, he has a verve and wit as exemplified in his literary analyses, this book is no exception. I admit to a penchant for these popular histories which mix biography, history and tangential musings and I loved this book. Sutherland obviously adores elephants and, whilst the story of Jumbo is the central core of the book, he explores lots of other examples of elephants historically, fictionally and biologically. A thoroughly entertaining book which educates as well.

[Granny Weatherwax · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic story and one that left me with even less respect for P.T. Barnum than I had before. The treatment of elephants in captivity throughout history has been horrendous and I would hope that we have learned from past mistakes and improved the way that we treat captive animals in general, but with comparatively recent cases coming to light, I think that we have a long way to go.
The book provides some interesting information on other elephants of the time, including the terrible ends dealt out to Topsy and Mary - what kind of people want to witness these 'spectacles'? Some facts about elephants are also included at the back but to me this almost felt like padding.

[Ira Therebel · Rating 4 out of 5]

A book that will be of interest to people who like animals or history. A big part of it is about Jumbo and other famous elephants. It also has a variety of information on different elephant related topics which are pretty interesting. I never thought there is so much to know about elephant dung!

John Sutherland has a nice writing style, easy to read and with a lot of wit. But this doesn't help to make the book depressing. Elephants are horribly mistreated in captivity and killed for their ivory when they are free. It is horrible how us humans treat these (and other) animals. I hope it will continue improving.

[Donna · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this when it first came out and am still astonished by ths story. Appropriate for adults and teens, it's a fascinating read for animal lovers and history buffs. Factual but as readable as a novel, definitely worth the time to read.

[Thea · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beware of the gruesome descriptions, not for the faint hearted! Very interesting facts

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 Stars