Christmas is a time of good food and drink, meeting friends and family, exchanging presents and commemorating the birth of Jesus. But the origins of the celebration are far older - people have celebrated the return of the sun for millennia. This book looks at aspects of what the festive period has meant for people all over the world and across the centuries, with nuggets of history, illuminating quotations, fun facts, jokes, sayings, curious customs, and the various origins of Father Christmas.