The Victorian Christmas Kindle Edition

Full of lore and legend as well as recipes. The author addresses the splendor and fun of a British Victorian Christmas. Includes well documented games and recipes as well as a complete bibliography. 12th night serves as the end of the season of the holiday so includes customs right up to that date.

This was interesting but must have been a dash to put out since much of the book consists of recipes, and extensive quotes from the works of others such as Dickens in order to flesh it out to book length. Not bad but I expected better and hoped for some original material.

I've got mixed feelings about this one. On the one hand, it is the best book about historic Christmas traditions that I've read so far. However, like many of the others, there are issues with the accuracy of some of their claims, which leaves the rest a tad suspect. For example, the author claimed the Victorians invented muslin, but that is just not true. It was imported into Britain and was around long before the Victorian era and was exceptionally popular in dressmaking during the Regency era.That aside, this book is full of first-hand accounts from the era, which is super useful. It covers a ton of aspects of Christmas and the Twelve Days of Christmas, focusing more on what records of that day said rather than regurgitating the information published online or in other books. If you're interested in learning more about historic Christmas traditions, this is a great place to start. I'm definitely going to use the bibliography in this book to do some more digging into first-hand accounts of the holiday.So, I'm rounding up to 4-stars for the heavy use of authentic accounts to illustrate things. It also includes a ton of historical recipes & even song lyrics and a Christmas play transcript, which was neat to read through. However, the author's own words have to be taken with a grain of salt as some of their claims aren't true or are not as black and white as presented.

Anna Selby had presented her information concisely and yet, in an entertaining manner, which makes this book a treasure. With a combination of sources, she gives a snapshot of Christmas in the 19th Century that is both touching and concrete. I especially love the inclusion of old recipes.

this book is a well-written and entertaining account of Christmas customs, both those of pagan and Christian origin. Topics include things like the wassail bowl, mummers, the "Waits" (professional carolers), etc. Includes picturesque color illustrations from Victorian times. This book is well worth reading!

Most of the info in this book relates to Victorians who had servants, plenty to eat, etc. Would have liked to have seen a bit more about the poor folks.

I enjoyed this book a lot. It's an overview of the way the Victorians changed how we still celebrate Christmas, and the whole Yuletide season.While I'm not an expert, I do know a substantial amount about both Christmas traditions over time, and the history of cooking- and while this book is hardly exhaustive, it does seem to me to be pretty accurate; much of it is quoting original texts from the period.And the bibliography is extensive!While the recipes are not modernized, mostly, they are chosen to be c=actually cook-able if one is interested in doing such.I enjoyed this book a lot! and I think it's a good starter on learning about the history of modern Christmas (and other celebrations during this season).I gave it 4 stars instead of 5 because there were some problems with the Kindle version- parts of some sentences got lost completely, and I found that frustrating. But it's still worth reading for anyone curious about how we started to celebrate Christmas the way we do!

For anyone who loves Christmas! If you merely like it, you will be inspired! Charles Dickens' daughter tells of her own family's joyful celebrations.

The book was in perfect condition . Arrived on time. No complaints from me

I read this charming little ebook over the Christmas holidays and enjoyed it very much. Anna Selby entertainingly and insightfully shows how the excessive Christmas enthusiasm of the Victorian era shapes the holiday to this day, and not only in England. In doing so, the author combines historical research on Christmas traditions and texts by well-known British writers such as Charles Dickens and Oscar Wilde with many original recipes for Christmas dishes, baked goods and sweets. If you want to better understand the origins of many of today's Christmas traditions or simply delve deeper into the kitschy Victorian Christmas world of "A Christmas Carol" and other classic works, this book can only be recommended. Especially over the holidays.

I was looking into the history of winter festivals and celebrations and I stumbled upon this book. From the excerpts of newspapers, to full recipes taken from cookbooks of the era, Anna Selby provided a complete immersion into the Victorian Christmas. The anecdotes and illustrations kept everyone from my seven year old daughter to my 79 year old grandmother amused. I can't come up with a single criticism.

Es un libroImprescindible y muy interesante para comprender las Navidades actuales. Highly recommended. Altamente recomendable. Además tiene una buena presentación.

This book is beautiful. Full of history and a great read around the holiday season.