When it comes to child mortality and mortality in general, things took a big dip in the 19th century. I think Dickens was quite consciously bringing back the kind of medieval ideas of Christmas. Is there a Christmas-y Shakespeare? And the attack on the sort of joyless, puritanical, utilitarian creed of Scrooge. Why are you asking me for charity? It doesn't go to the poorhouses or whatever he says!
UnHerd's Freddie Sayers and Flo Read sit down with founder of The Idler magazine, Tom Hodgkinson, to discuss the fraught history of the winter festival and the moral good in having a merry Christmas.
Read the Post here
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