Penguin Classics give you the best possible editions of Charles Dickens's novels,
including all the original illustrations, useful and informative introductions, the
definitive, accurate text as it was meant to be published, a chronology of Dickens's life
and notes that fill in the background to the book.
Dickens's story of solitary miser Ebenezer Scrooge, who is taught the true meaning of
Christmas by a series of ghostly visitors, has proved one of his most well-loved works.
Ever since it was published in 1843 it has had an enduring influence on the way we think
about the traditions of Christmas. Dickens's other Christmas writings collected here
include 'The Story of the Goblins who Stole a Sexton', the short story from The
Pickwick Papers on which A Christmas Carol was based; The Haunted Man, a
tale of a man tormented by painful memories; along with shorter pieces, some drawn from
the 'Christmas Stories' that Dickens wrote annually for his weekly journals. In all of
them Dickens celebrates the season as one of geniality, charity and remembrance.
This new selection contains an introduction by distinguished Dickens scholar Michael
Slater discussing how the author has shaped ideas about the Christmas spirit, appendices
including an essay on Dickens’s use of The Arabian Nights, with further reading
and explanatory notes.
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Writings
A Dickens Chronology
Introduction
Further Reading
A Note on the Texts
Christmas Festivities
The Story Of The Goblins Who Stole A Sexton
A Christmas Episode From Master Humphrey's Clock
A Christmas Carol
The Haunted Man And The Ghost's Bargain
A Christmas Tree
What Christmas Is, As We Grow Older
The Seven Poor Travellers
Appendix I: Dickens's Prefaces to Collected Editions of The Christmas Books
Appendix II: Dickens's Descriptive Headlines for A Christmas Carol and The Haunted Man
Appendix III: Dickens and The Arabian Nights
Notes