The story of the panoply of exotic animals that were brought into Britain from time immemorial until the foundation of the London Zoo. A tale replete with the extravagant, the eccentric, and - on occasion - the downright bizarre.

• Foreword by Juliet Clutton-Brock


• 1: From the Normans to the Tudors


• 2: The Stuarts, 1603-1688


• 3: George III, c.1760-1811


• 4: George IV, as Regent and King, 1811-1830


• 6: William IV, c. 1830-1837


• Conclusions


• Glossary


• Notes


• Bibliography


• Index

A zoologist, formerly a curator in the Museums of the Royal College of Surgeons, Caroline Grigson is now an honorary professor at the UCL Institute of Archaeology. The subjects of her numerous publications range from prehistoric animal husbandry to the study of natural history and its relationship to art in eighteenth century London.