Though London could not compare with Paris as a city of pleasure and fashion, it had huge mercantile wealth and a cultured upper class who were prepared to welcome foreigners of talent. The English capital frightened such people by its sheer size - Wagner, arriving there in 1855, thought it "a dreadfully large city, Paris is simply a village in comparison". He was only one of a number of eminent musicians who came there from the Continent; Berlioz, Chopin, Mendelssohn all had their English successes and followings. Americans went there too, including Emerson who maddened Carlyle with his "moonshine philosophy". Another American visitor was the dancer Loie Fuller, who so impressed Yeats, while Australia sent a giant of sport in Frederick Spofforth, the original "demon bowler". This is rather a superficial book, yet it does cover a wide range of personalities and events.