Scottish book of the week

A Classic Christmas: Just Like The Ones We Used To Know edited by Steve Finan DC Thomson, £11.99

It’s the most wonderful time of the year...

So croons Andy Williams every single year. It’s not only a song but a sentiment that holds true no matter how many times we hear it. There is just something wonderful about Christmas.

It is this very spirit that is captured perfectly within the pages of A Classic Christmas. An anthology to the festivities of the season, magazine articles and newspaper clippings are used to depict Christmas throughout the years. From the presents that were all the rage in the 1950s to the Christmas TV highlights of the ’80s, and everything in between that make up Christmas as we know it.

It was really amusing to flick through this book and to just see how some things, such as adverts for cigarettes being the perfect gift, have come on a long way and how others, like the Christmas rush to get to the shops, haven’t come on that much at all. Beneath the amusement and nostalgia for seemingly simpler times, this book does a lot to subtly point out how our society and culture have changed over the years. There’s an advert from the 1950s for an iron being the perfect present for your wife... I’m not too sure if it would be received with much excitement nowadays.

Within these pages you’ll find a lot of cheer, festivity and a gentle reminder about what Christmas is all about. Despite some of the obvious ways Christmas has changed, it serves well to demonstrate that the magic, the dazzling excitement and the delight is something that hasn’t got lost over the years. Simply put, it is the perfect literary companion to indulge in this Christmas.

Review by Emma Reekie.

See feature on page 25.

8/10