The Victorians at Christmas adopts a unique approach to a celebrated period in our history. It uses lavish illustrations from the period to shine new light on exactly how Christmas affected all sections of Victorian society - the very rich, the very poor, and everyone in-between. Extracts from contemporary articles, novels and poems accompany the illustrations to highlight how the Victorians themselves thought about Christmas - and each other. They were both similar and yet very different to us. And overall, the book tells the key story of how the customs of this formerly rowdy mid-winter celebration were radically transformed by our Victorians forbears. In doing so it covers the Victorian fascination with pantomimes, fairies and the bizarre as well as the tension between the obsession with the best possible family celebrations and the call of Christmas charity. It is a rich, moving and thought-provoking story.