The six volumes in the Penguin Christmas Classics are not only our most beloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we love about the holiday itself. Charles Dickens A Christmas Carol revived in Victorian England such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards, and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope, brought together in Christmas at Thompson Hall and Other Christmas Stories, popularized throughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings of Christmas in London. L. Frank Baum's The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott, collected in A Merry Christmas and Other Christmas Stories, shaped the ideal of an American Christmas. Nikolai Gogol's The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And E. T. A. Hoffmann's The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.

Beautifully designed hardcovers-with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, and nameplates for personalization-in a small trim size that makes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embody the spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honoured stories about the holiday.