Dickens' Christmas: A Victorian Celebration

by Simon Callow

An anthology of Christmas writings by Charles Dickens features the complete text of A Christmas Carol as well as excerpts from other writings that feature the author's vivid descriptions of candle- and greenery-decorated houses and waistcoat-popping dinners, in a volume complemented by period illustrations and classic nineteenth-century recipes.

Genres: Christmas, History, Nonfiction, Classics

160 pages, Hardcover

First published October 1, 2003

About the author

Stage and screen actor

Reviews

[Cindy Newton · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this for the A Christmas Carol group read for the Victorians! group. This gives some great additional information and background material for the customs of the day and also historical details about Dickens' life. It also includes the full text of the story itself. With its lovely illustrations and Christmas-related facts, it gives Dickens' story additional dimension.

[The Bear · Rating 5 out of 5]

A great survey history of the sources behind our many Christmas traditions - many of which are pagan going back to Rome, Persia (Iran), and Victorian England (among others covered in other books).

Included in the book of course is the great story itself, "A Christmas Carol."

[Sarah u · Rating 2 out of 5]

I've read this book in between school plays, baking for school parties, present wrapping, and other endless Christmas things to do.

I'm in two minds about this book. It was ok, the images are particularly good, but the written content I think was rather lacking. Almost half of the book is Dickens' A Christmas Carol; the rest is highlights of pagan, medieval, Victorian, and modern Christmas practices. Some of the information was confusing or factually inaccurate, for example on page 20 Callow talks about Richard II in the mid-fifteenth century- does the author mean Richard II in the fourteenth century, or Richard III in the fifteenth? It was interesting to see where some of our traditions came from (although I knew much of what was covered already), but overall I don't think this book delivered the 'Victorian Celebration' promised on the cover.

[Brenda D · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book (definitely worth the read!) adds context by setting out relevant historical events (distant and contemporaneous with Charles Dickens own life) which led to the writing of Christmas Carol. The full 'ghost story' (Christmas Carol with illustrations) is included in the book followed by an overview of the impact Dickens and Christmas Carol had on the celebration of Christmas after his book was published.
The book is full of interesting trivia - such as "Goose Clubs" to which the poor belonged in order to purchase a bird for Christmas celebrations, by making regular, small payments throughout the year and the fact these geese often had to walk great distances to market at Christmas time which meant covering their feet with cloth or tar so they could make the long journey. If you love Christmas celebrations ... you will love this book!

[Hugh Coverly · Rating 5 out of 5]

Simon Callow presents Dickens’s A Christmas Carol along with material that shows the origins of Christmas, and the ups and downs of it celebrations in England and in America through the centuries, and how it has undergone and continues to undergo changes to meet the changing times. A full text of Dickens’s famous novella is included, and the book is filled with many wonderful coloured illustrations.

[Kris Dersch · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall I like the structure of this book: the full text of "A Christmas Carol," sandwiched with some history of Dickens and of Christmas. A lot of it has been covered before, but it's interesting history nonetheless especially as presented all in one volume. The title is weird though, and doesn't really describe what is in this book.

[CatJuggler · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting.

[Michael · Rating 4 out of 5]

A seasonal appendix to his other Dickens works - largely taken up with the complete text of A Christmas Carol [and why not?], but with many lesser known festive fare, all beautifully illustrated.

[Connie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Contains the entire text of A Christmas Carol, which I had never read before.

[Tracie · Rating 5 out of 5]

A history of Christmas, winter and/or pagan holiday traditions. A biography of Dickens. The delightful and beloved A Christmas Carol by Dickens and some more Christmas tradition. This book is a wonderful and beautifully illustrated edition for anyone who enjoys reading and collecting lovely books.
Simon Callow has given a wonderful introduction for someone new to the world of Charles Dickens and his famous Christmas tale.

[Cheryl · Rating 5 out of 5]

It's not obvious from the title, but this book has the full Christmas Carol text inside-- in between a section about Dickens' life and a history of Christmas celebrations in England and the U.S., which works out surprisingly well when you read the book front to back. The author is an actor who has done one-person readings of the Christmas Carol, so he writes from a position of real understanding of the work, and the bibliography he gives shows that he has read widely about the role of this Christmas classic in society. There have been many books that cover similar ground, but Callow's observations give you enough of a wide range of topics for holiday use. I was going to skip the Christmas Carol itself, but I'm glad I read it because knowing more about the history and reading the work itself gets rid of all those film and pop culture images that tend to crowd out the memory of Dickens' own words. What I liked about his account is how it brought together so many issues of Christmas as a holiday. It's often said that Christmas was a pagan holiday, and of course we now have all this keeping Christ in Christmas warfare--this book goes over the tension between the secular and religious appropriation of Christmas and how A Christmas Carol was part of a broader cultural impulse in Victorian England to claim the celebration of Christmas as a link to a lost pre-industrial society, but it also was so influential in defining what that ideal should look like, especially in the United States where Dickens toured and read the work to audiences. One other book on this topic claims that Dickens saved Christmas, and I would believe that, but I also am skeptical about there ever having been an ideal, pious Christian holy day called Christmas that was free of association from practices of Saturnalia revelry, leastways not in the Anglophone countries. You can make a strong link between "what you have done to the least of these you have done for me" in Dickens, but there's no trace of angels, babies in mangers or wise men at all, even though Dickens and the Victorians he influenced brought that aspect of corporal works of charity and caring for the poor into public religious Christmas observances where they hadn't much been linked before. A good holiday read. It makes you think about why we do our Christmas rituals.

[Lee Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

A combination of the novella "A Christmas Carol" and some background information on the history of Christmas and also Victorian Christmas celebrations. I really like Dickens' story; the background information is just okay. Callow approaches Christmas from a rather blatantly secular standpoint, spending most of his time on the pagan elements and general solstice merry-making and dismissing Christian elements. I didn't make it through all the Victorian information, but he talks about food, traditions, and Dickens' contributions to the Victorian idea of Christmas.

[Joy · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of my annual Christmas traditions--to read this story again. I absolutely love it and I love some of the quotations from the book that still pertain to us today as we attempt to do something about the social issues we find ourselves in.

The explanations about the history of Christmas and Charles Dicken's purpose in writing the story are interesting to read as well.

[Melissa · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable book, rich with the history of Christmas in England and Europe and the impact that Dickens' Christmas stories had on how Christmas is viewed & celebrated in England. It includes the complete text of Dickens' best loved holiday tale - A Christmas Carol.

[Paul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Mr Callow has written a delightful book about the Christmas customs as observed by Charles Dickens & English society during the Victorian Age. Highly recommend for anyone who enjoys both Christmas & history.

[Loralee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy reading this classic!

[Jean]

just started it - he goes back through the history of Christmas - so i'm hoping for some Roman info

[Lois · Rating 4 out of 5]

A beautiful Christmas tale!

[Jesse Fox · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my favorite books! Pertinent to our lives on every level.