The Tower Menagerie by Daniel Hahn

When animals had souls and elephants drank wine

This book, an eclectic history of the "Royal Collection of Wild and Ferocious Beasts" kept at the Tower of London until the mid-19th century, is packed with odd little did-you-knows. For example: that in 1252 a polar bear – a gift to Henry III from Hakon IV of Norway – was left to fish his own lunch of salmon from the Thames? That elephants were commonly thought to drink only wine (despite the numbers that manifestly failed to thrive on such a diet)? Or that, in 1764, John Wesley, co-founder of the Methodist Church, found evidence that animals had souls by employing a flautist to entertain the king's lion?

All human life is here, making its presence felt among Hahn's profusion of weird anecdotes. Because this book is about more than the unfortunate collection of scrofulous beasts accumulated by various monarchs; it is about London itself, its position in the world, our view of ourselves as a nation and our very humanity. "The Menagerie is the prism," says Hahn, "for examining many things, whether the birth of modern surgery, developments in artistic technique, the rise of journalism [or] our changing perceptions of animals and the natural world."

This last is clear. But changing perceptions of the natural world tell us about more than the way we see animals. The fact that early visitors could waive the entrance fee in exchange for a pet cat or dog to feed to the lions tells us about mores of the time. That the inmates of Bedlam were also available for the entertainment of fee-paying gawpers says more. Geoffrey Chaucer must have learnt a lot about human nature when he was in charge of the upkeep of the Tower in 1389.

These entertaining excursions from the apparent business are frequent, chaotic and occasionally frustrating. In the main, Hahn has an amused, dry style that allows the bizarreness of his subject to speak for itself. But sometimes his obvious enthusiasm gets the better of him. All his "four centuries later" and "let us go back a little, to the year 1822" can leave the reader disoriented. It's hard to know where you are when all around you tigers are fighting lions, well-known philanthropists are baiting bears, and legendary explorers are thrilling Londoners with tales of dog-headed people (Marco Polo) and one-eyed men (Christopher Columbus). You wonder at the public's credulity, but then you remember that the National Enquirer has a readership of millions. Plus ça change.

While heaving a sigh of relief for the abused animals, it is sad to read of Wellington's dissolution of the menagerie in 1831. For centuries, monarchs used it to show off Britain's might and Empire – as when James I set three mastiffs upon a lion to prove the British dog's power over the African feline, or when an American Indian was exhibited, alongside storks and a beaver, in St James's Park.

It is a pleasure to be given this extraordinary glimpse into the history of our national identity. In The Tower Menagerie, Hahn has pulled some real treats from this murky subject. Rather like a polar bear, plucking salmon from the Thames.