Bonfire of History: The Lost Treasures, Trophies and Trivia of Madame Tussaud & Sons
In 1925, a devastating fire ripped through Madame Tussauds wax museum in London.
By the time the fire was extinguished, little was left of the world-famous waxworks beyond a few grotesquely distorted models and a pile of scrap iron — the remnants of one of Napoléon’s carriages.
Co-authored by the late Christopher Joll and Penny Cobham, this beautifully illustrated and diligently researched book documents the long-forgotten fire that destroyed the original concept of Madame Tussauds as a ‘cabinet of curiosities’.
Based on unique access to the museum’s archive, it exposes major discrepancies about Madame Tussaud, the authenticity of much of her collection, and the fate of items such as the guillotine believed to have been used to behead Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette.
“Madame Tussauds is a great British survival story […] Penny and Christopher have brought our lost collection back to life. In so doing, they have also filled in much of the missing historical background relating to the collection and have uncovered some uncomfortable truths about the authenticity of some of the items that were on display.”