Dickens' Christmas: A Victorian Celebration »

Christmas fascinated the great Victorian novelist Charles Dickens, and to Victorian England, Dickens was Christmas. Following the enormous success in 1843 of A Christmas Carol, Dickens wrote several other Christmas books, sketches, and short stories, and the holiday plays a part in many of his novels. Dickens' public, it seemed, couldn't get enough of his depictions of the season. This beautifully illustrated anthology contains the entire text of A Christmas Carol as well as excerpts from Dickens’ other writings that vividly describe houses decked in greenery and lighted candles, mistletoe in the hall and holly wreaths on the door, and lavish, waistcoat-popping dinners. Authentic recipes for 19th-century treats like plum pudding, mince pies, and gingerbread men allow readers to pop a few buttons of their own. Packed with delightful seasonal illustrations, including many original Dickens illustrations, this lovingly compiled book celebrates the Victorian Christmas in all its warmth and charm.

Publishers Weekly

That perennial favorite, A Christmas Carol, forms the centerpiece of Dickens' Christmas: A Victorian Celebration by Simon Callow, whose one-man Dickens show appeared in the West End and on Broadway. Along with the unabridged work, the volume includes an overview of how Christmas was celebrated before and during Dickens's time, biographical information about the author and art by contemporaneous illustrators. Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information.