Rating: 3 out of 5
I generally like listening to what Mr Bryson has come up with, but in the end I found this a touch lacklustre. Most of his work has been a bit more insightful or funny, but this didn’t really get to either of those two at the same level.
In broad terms, the book does what it says: how has Christmas developed into what it is today. There’s a bit of subtlety to this, and the author enjoys looking through the fine history of both carols and Christmas dishes which overall probably make up the best parts of this book.
However, the rest: lamenting (at least it did not seem to be praising) the commercialisation of Christmas, looking at some “unique” traditions in other countries, etc… It didn’t come across as neither particularly new nor deep.
Overall, ok but nothing special.
