Bearded Ladies and Boxing Booths looks at the shows that have always been an integral part of the travelling funfair, ranging from the informative through to the dangerous, taking in the weird and wonderful on the way. While rides and stalls may form the bedrock of most fairs, it has always been the shows that have really intrigued, informed and entertained the paying public. At the same time, and perhaps most importantly of all, for centuries fairground shows also tested the boundaries of what it has been acceptable to show, say and do in public before this responsibility was adopted by modern mass media.

Shows are grouped under five headings ranging from the political to the freakish, covering dozens of different types, from the familiar such as bearded ladies to boxing booths, through to the less well known such as Mouse Town or Underwater Welding. Along the way the reader is not only given the background to these shows, but is also let in on some of the tricks used to gull the punter just enough so that, as they leave, they still feel as if they've had their money's worth.