Charles Dickens has probably had more influence on the way that we celebrate Christmas today than any single individual in human history except one. At the beginning of the Victorian period the celebration of Christmas was in decline. The medieval Christmas traditions, which combined the celebration of the birth of Christ with the ancient Roman festival of Saturnalia (a pagan celebration for the Roman god of agriculture), and the Germanic winter festival of Yule, had come under intense scrutiny by the Puritans under Oliver Cromwell. The Industrial Revolution, in full swing in Dickens’ time, allowed workers little time for the celebration of Christmas.

The romantic revival of Christmas traditions that occurred in Victorian times had other contributors: Prince Albert brought the German custom of decorating the Christmas tree to England, the singing of Christmas carols (which had all but disappeared at the turn of the century) began to thrive again, and the first Christmas card appeared in the 1840s. But it was the Christmas stories of Dickens, particularly his 1843 masterpiece A Christmas Carol, that rekindled the joy of Christmas in Britain and America. [em. mine]

If you have been alive in the United States or Britain for, let’s say, at least 12 years, then chances are you have been exposed to the classic short story A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens. The work continues to be an enduring classic; even after 160 years we see it revisited again and again through theatre, television, cinema, and other mediums.

But did you know that Dickens wrote other Christmas books after A Christmas Carol? Indeed, he wrote several. My suggestion for this Christmas season is to read A Christmas Carol if you haven’t already. The actual text is incredibly charming. If you are one of the lucky ones that has read it, then have a go at one of these (titles link to online texts):

• The Chimes (wiki): “Toby “Trotty” Veck, a poor working man, loses his faith in human nature and comes to believe that he and his fellow poor are naturally “vicious”. Then he is afforded a nightmare vision of his loved ones’ future after his death. The spirits or goblins in his local church bells show him how anyone, however good, may descend into degradation and ruin if sufficiently driven by circumstances. The chimes teach Trotty that nobody is born wicked, that crime and vice are man-made conditions, and that poor people have the same right to seek improvement and happiness as the rich.” [1]
• The Cricket on the Hearth (wiki): “The story centers on John and Dot Peerybingle whose marriage is threatened by a wide difference in their ages. When confronted with the possibility of Dot’s infidelity John consults the spirit of the Cricket on the Hearth whose chirping Dot has said brings luck. The cricket assures John that all will be well. In the end the misunderstanding is cleared up and the couple’s happiness is restored. The story also features the Scrooge-like conversion of hard-hearted toymaker Tackleton.” [2]
• The Battle of Life (wiki):

“The Battle of Life centers on a change of heart, but this time without the aid of supernatural beings. Doctor Jeddler’s daughters make sacrifices in love which convert their father’s cynical view of life.” [3]


• The Haunted Man (wiki): “Mr. Redlaw is a chemistry professor tormented by painful memories. He is visited on Christmas Eve by a phantom, a double of himself, who bestows the gift of forgetting these painful memories. The catch is that others who come into contact with the professor also lose remembrance of past hurts and sorrows.” [4]


1. “The Chimes.” Wikipedia. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/the_chimes>.
2. “Dickens Christmas Books.” David Perdue’s Charles Dickens Bage. 8 Dec. 2008 <http://charlesdickenspage.com/christmas_books.html>.
3. Ibid.
4. Ibid.


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