Author Description
An Anglican Priest Hands Out Brass Knuckles To His Congregation, Preparing To Battle Anti-christmas Fanatics. Fascists Insist That The Winter Solstice Is The Real Christmas, While Communists Stage Atheist Musicals Outside Of Churches On Christmas Eve. Activists Vandalize Shops That Start Touting The Holiday In October And Anti-consumerists Sing Parody Carols In Shopping Malls. Is There A War On Christmas? As Gerry Bowler Demonstrates In Christmas In The Crosshairs, There Is And Always Has Been A War, Or Several Wars, On Christmas. A Cherished Global Phenomenon, Christmas Is The Biggest Single Event On The Planet. For Christians It Is The Second-most Sacred Date On The Calendar, But It Also Engages Billions Of People Who Are Caught Up In Its Commercialism, Music, Sentiment, Travel, And Frenetic Busyness. Since Its Controversial Invention In The Roman Empire, Christmas Has Struggled With Paganism, Popular Culture, And Fierce Christian Opposition; Faced Abolition In Scotland And New England; And Braved Neglect And Near-death In The 1700s, Only To Be Miraculously Reinvented In The 1800s. The Twentieth Century Saw It Banned By Bolsheviks And Twisted By Nazis. Since Then, Special Interest Groups Of Every Stripe Have Used The Holiday's Massive Popularity To Draw Attention To Their Causes. Christmas In The Crosshairs Tells The Story Of The Tug-of-war Over Christmas, Replete With Cross-dressing Priests, Ranting Puritans, And Atheist Witches. In This Eye-opening History Of Christmas And Its Opponents From The Beginning Up To The Present Day, Bowler Gives Us A Shocking, And Richly Entertaining, New Look At The Tradition We Thought We Knew So Well.
Menrva's Summary
THE THESIS
Does a perpetual state of conflict define the history and cultural evolution of Christmas? Gerry Bowler, a historian specializing in the study of Christmas, utilizes extensive archival research and historical analysis to argue that the holiday has functioned as a perennial battleground for political, religious, and social ideologies since its inception. He examines how various factions—from Puritans and Bolsheviks to modern activists—have sought to suppress, co-opt, or redefine the celebration to suit their specific agendas.
THE SCOPE MAP
What You Will Find
- A chronological history of Christmas from the Roman Empire to the present day.
- Analysis of ideological conflicts involving religious, political, and anti-consumerist groups.
- Documentation of specific historical attempts to ban or reinvent the holiday.
Scope Limits
- The text focuses primarily on Western and European historical contexts.
- It does not provide a theological treatise on the religious significance of the Nativity.
THE AUTHORITY PERSPECTIVE
Historians and reviewers note that Bowler provides a well-researched and accessible account of the holiday's contentious past. The prose is frequently described as engaging and informative, making it a useful resource for those interested in the intersection of cultural traditions and political history.
Page Count:
304
Publication Date:
2016-01-01
Publisher:
Oxford University Press
ISBN-10:
019049901X
ISBN-13:
9780190499013
History
Religion
Social History
Holidays