Christmas and Charles Dickens

When he was curator of London's Charles Dickens Museum, Dr. Parker was frequently asked by journalists and visitors about Christmas and the Dickens connection. The questions amounted usually to: You could say, couldn't you, that Charles Dickens was the man who invented Christmas. Christmas Dickens proponents argue that their man redirected public attention to the old Christian customs and festivals, as though England ceased to be jolly with the decline of the Middle Ages and the rise of Modernity. To set the record straight and correct such blind assertions, this book grew. With A Christmas Carol, Dickens - with many others - rekindled seasonal rejoicing only among a minority. No rekindling was needed for the majority.