Although people may not realize it, the modern Christmas book market carries on a Victorian legacy. An explosion of Christmas print matter reinvigorated and regularized the holiday during the mid-Victorian period, infusing Christmas with emotionally-charged expectations of reading. Tara Moore elucidates the evolution of Christmas publishing trends that dictated authors' writing schedules and reflected gift-giving rituals. As Victorian shopping customs evolved, publishers satisfied consumers with a range of holiday print matter, including novels, ghost stories, periodicals, children's books,...

Black Friday. The War on Christmas. Miracle on 34th Street and Elf. From shopping malls and Fox News to movie theaters, Christmas no longer solely celebrates to the birth of Christ. Considering the holiday in its global context, Christmas journeys from its historical origins to its modern incarnation as a global commercial event, stopping along the way to look at the controversies and traditions of the celebratory day.

Delving into the long story of this unifying but also divisive holiday, Tara Moore describes the evolution of Christmas and the deep traditions that...

Black Friday. The War on Christmas. Miracle on 34th Street and Elf. From shopping malls and Fox News to movie theaters, Christmas no longer solely celebrates to the birth of Christ. Considering the holiday in its global context, Christmas journeys from its historical origins to its modern incarnation as a global commercial event, stopping along the way to look at the controversies and traditions of the celebratory day.

Delving into the long story of this unifying but also divisive holiday, Tara Moore describes the evolution of Christmas and the deep traditions that...