A Christmas cornucopia : the hidden stories behind our yuletide traditions
Forsyth, Mark2016
Books
For something that happens every year of our lives, we really don't know much about Christmas. We don't know that the date we celebrate was chosen by a madman, or that Christmas, etymologically speaking, means 'Go away, Christ'. Nor do we know that Christmas was first celebrated in 243 AD on 28 March - and only moved to 25 December in 354 AD. We're oblivious to the fact that the advent calendar was actually invented by a Munich housewife to stop her children pestering her for a Christmas countdown. And we would never have guessed that the invention of crackers was merely a way of popularising sweet wrappers. Luckily, like a gift from Santa himself, Mark Forsyth is here to unwrap this fundamentally funny gallimaufry of traditions and oddities, making it all finally make sense - in his entertaining wordy way.
Main title:
Author:
Forsyth, Mark, author
Imprint:
UK : Viking, 2016.
Collation:
xviii, 171 pages : illustrations (black and white) ; 19 cm
Notes:
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN:
9780241267738 (hbk. :)
Dewey class:
394.2663394.266394.2663 FOR
Language:
English
BRN:
1133495