This book covers the history of Christmas from Christ's birth up to AD 1900.

I found the info on the very beginnings to be the most interesting, such as the possibilities that Christ's birth may be four or five years out. Therefore, he could've been born as early as 5 BC ... that's like saying he was born five years before he was born! I guess we're too far on to change things now.

Events in 1752 are also interesting, as eleven days were cut out of September, thus outraging some people who believed they'd been robbed of eleven days of their lives. These same people and others refused to celebrate Christmas on 25 December that year, thinking that 5 January must be the correct day.

The author spent a long time working on this tome and I admire him for his efforts. That said, I did find myself skipping a lot of pages. I'm not interested in reading reproductions of old plays, especially not the list of actors and the characters they portrayed.

The more interesting and obscure historical accounts that transpired in England were what interested me the most. I'm glad I wasn't alive during Cromwell's stint as lord protector - the miserable sod banned Christmas, warts and all! ( )