Standiford examines how the unlikely success of "A Christmas Carol" revitalized Charles Dickens's languishing career and revived the celebration of the near-forgotten Christmas holiday.

As uplifting as the tale of Scrooge itself, this is the story of how Charles Dickens revived the signal holiday of the Western world—now a major motion picture. Just before Christmas in 1843, a debt-ridden and dispirited Charles Dickens wrote a small book he hoped would keep his creditors at bay. His publisher turned it down, so Dickens used what little money he had to put out A Christmas Carol himself. He worried it might be the end of his career as a novelist. The book immediately caused a sensation. And it breathed new life into a holiday that had fallen into disfavor, undermined by lingering Puritanism and the cold modernity of the Industrial Revolution. It was a harsh and dreary age, in desperate need of spiritual renewal, ready to embrace a book that ended with blessings for one and all. With warmth, wit, and an infusion of Christmas cheer, Les Standiford whisks us back to Victorian England, its most beloved storyteller, and the birth of the Christmas we know best. The Man Who Invented Christmas is a rich and satisfying read for Scrooges and sentimentalists alike.

A real classic - a rich slice of history, with Christmas at its heart .

Everyone is familiar with this classic Christmas story. Ebenezer Scrooge is a miserly, unpleasant man who despises Christmas and overworks his clerk Bob Cratchit. As he prepares for another Christmas Eve without celebration, Scrooge is greeted by his dead business partner, Jacob Marley who warns him that his greed will not go unpunished. At first, Scrooge doesn't heed Marley's warning, but soon he is visited by the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Christmas Yet to Come. He is made to face his cruel nature, and to consider whether he should change his ways. This is a free digital copy of a book that has been carefully scanned by Google as part of a project to make the world's books discoverable online. To make this print edition available as an ebook, we have extracted the text using Optical Character Recognition (OCR) technology and submitted it to a review process to ensure its accuracy and legibility across different screen sizes and devices. Google is proud to partner with libraries to make this book available to readers everywhere.

- This copy includes a biography of the author Charles Darwin located at the end of the book - Includes Charles Darwin's accomplishments and life before and after A Christmas Carol In October 1843, Charles Dickens ― heavily in debt and obligated to his publisher ― began work on a book to help supplement his family's meager income. That volume, A Christmas Carol, has long since become one of ― if not the most ― beloved Christmas stories in the English language.The story tells of an old miser named Ebenezer Scrooge, whose arrogant and obstinate character is transformed by the visit of ghosts who journey with him into Christmases present, past and future. This classic Christmas tale written by one of England's most popular authors, has come to be known as a classic to all.This edition has been proofread and edited from the original to make it easier to read.

Dickens wrote A Christmas Carol under financial duress, but it became one of his most popular and enduring stories. The old miser Ebenezer Scrooge cares nothing for family, friends, love or Christmas. All he cares about is money. Then one Christmas Eve he is visited by three ghosts: Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet To Come. These encounters leave Scrooge deeply moved and forever changed. Historians believe that A Christmas Carol contributed greatly to the modern sentimental Christmas.