Written for everyone who loves and is simultaneously driven crazy by the holiday season, "Christmas: A Candid History" provides an enlightening, entertaining perspective on how the annual Yuletide celebration got to be what it is today. In a fascinating, concise tour through history, the book tells the story of Christmas - from its pre-Christian roots, through the birth of Jesus, to the holiday's spread across Europe into the Americas and beyond, and to its mind-boggling transformation through modern consumerism. Packed with intriguing stories, based on research into myriad sources, full of insights, the book explores the historical origins of traditions including Santa, the reindeer, gift giving, the Christmas tree, Christmas songs and movies, and more. The book also offers some provocative ideas for reclaiming the joy and meaning of this beloved, yet often frustrating, season amid the pressures of our fast-paced consumer culture. Did you know for three centuries Christians did not celebrate Christmas? Puritans in England and New England made Christmas observances illegal. St. Nicholas is an elf in the famous poem "The Night Before Christmas". President Franklin Roosevelt changed the date of Thanksgiving in order to lengthen the Christmas shopping season. Coca-Cola helped fashion Santa Claus' look in an advertising campaign.

About the Author
Bruce David Forbes, Professor of Religious Studies at Morningside College, is coeditor, with Jeffrey Mahan of Religion and Popular Culture in America (UC Press) and coeditor, with Jeanne Halgren Kilde, of Rapture, Revelation, and the End Times: Exploring the Left Behind Series

Reviews
"Colloquial, straightforward, and colorful... Forbes makes the details delicious." Historian Magazine "Wonderfully perceptive as well as entertaining." Santa Fe New Mexican



Book Information
ISBN 9780520258020
Author Bruce David Forbes
Format Paperback
Page Count 196
Imprint University of California Press
Publisher University of California Press
Weight(grams) 227g
Dimensions(mm) 203mm * 152mm * 13mm