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

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.

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