A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

New Edition

Charles Dickens and Edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Oxford World's Classics

A new single-volume edition of all Dickens's Christmas books, with a selection of the original illustrations and a full critical introdution.
Includes a selection of 20 of the original illustrations.
An excellent introduction by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst contextualizes the Christmas stories, the social questions they set out to address, their reception and the enduring popularity of 'A Christmas Carol,' and how their style and themes resonate in more complex ways in his major fictions.
Lively notes point to parallels with Dickens's other writings.
Up-to-date bibliography.
Two appendixes including Dickens's article, 'What Christmas Is As We Grow Older', and facsimile pages from Dickens's reading version of 'A Christmas Carol'.

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

New Edition

Charles Dickens and Edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Description

'What was merry Christmas to Scrooge? Out upon merry Christmas! What good had it ever done to him?'

Ebenezer Scrooge is a bad-tempered skinflint who hates Christmas and all it stands for, but a ghostly visitor foretells three apparitions who will thaw Scrooge's frozen heart. A Christmas Carol has gripped the public imagination since it was first published in 1843, and it is now as much a part of Christmas as mistletoe or plum pudding. This edition reprints the story alongside Dickens's four other Christmas Books: The Chimes, The Cricket on the Hearth, The Battle of Life, and The Haunted Man. All five stories show Dickens at his unpredictable best, jumbling together comedy and melodrama, genial romance and urgent social satire, in pursuit of his aim 'to awaken some loving and forbearing thoughts, never out of season in a Christian land'.

About the Series: For over 100 years Oxford World's Classics has made available the broadest spectrum of literature from around the globe. Each affordable volume reflects Oxford's commitment to scholarship, providing the most accurate text plus a wealth of other valuable features, including expert introductions by leading authorities, voluminous notes to clarify the text, up-to-date bibliographies for further study, and much more.

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

New Edition

Charles Dickens and Edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Oxford World's Classics

A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Books

New Edition

Charles Dickens and Edited by Robert Douglas-Fairhurst

Oxford World's Classics

From Our Blog

A classic christmas dinner with the Cratchits

"There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it all particular, were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows!"

Posted on December 24, 2018

Read the blog post

Christmas dinner with the Cratchits

"There never was such a goose. Bob said he didn't believe there ever was such a goose cooked. Its tenderness and flavour, size and cheapness, were the themes of universal admiration. Eked out by apple-sauce and mashed potatoes, it was a sufficient dinner for the whole family; indeed, as Mrs Cratchit said with great delight (surveying one small atom of bone upon the dish), they hadn't ate it all particular, were steeped in sage and onion to the eyebrows!"

Posted on December 18, 2012

Read the blog post