Written for a general audience in a very informal voice, this slim volume covers the history of Christmas from Roman times down to the present in a breathless rush. Anyone who loves or loathes Christmas will find much to reflect upon here, and much to enjoy. Those who are indifferent may find it amusing, for it is laced with humour, and based on sound research. Those who want nothing but undiluted scholarship, however, will surely be disappointed. The endpoint of this narrative is the Christmas that has conquered the world: Christmas as celebrated in North America, and more specifically in the United States. Although it contains plenty of information on Christmas celebrations in other cultures, the book's main focus is fixed squarely on the secularised, commercial, end-of-year blowout that America has exported to the rest of the globe. Even those who think that they know everything there is to know about Christmas might be surprised, for the author does not presume that there is any such thing as a purely Christian holiday and therefore does not shrink from laying bare the many ways in which Christmas is at once Christian and non-Christian, or perhaps even a betrayal of Christian principles. Forbes traces the origins of Santa Claus, Christmas trees, gift-giving, carol-singing, and many other customs succinctly and with no small measure of detachment. By his own admission, Christmas irks and delights him simultaneously. The last chapter is a poignant meditation on the admixture of light and darkness we can all find in this perplexing holiday, written straight from the heart.