By far the greatest and most enduring Christmas book ever written, ‘A Christmas Carol’ combines the age-old tradition of Christmas with the concept of kindness to create a moral message that is still relevant today. Undoubtedly there are some aspects of the text that are no longer applicable, such as the idea of work houses, but the ever-present moral maze of money is still deeply resonant.

For the few of you who are unfamiliar with the story here is a quick summary.

On Christmas eve, Ebenezer Scrooge, a grumpy and selfish clerk is visited by his deceased business partner Jacob Marley who warns him of his selfish ways and tells him that he will be visited by three ghosts. The ghost of Christmas’ past comes first and shows Scrooge his unhappy childhood and the moment that he first learnt the joys of wealth. Next the ghost of Christmas’ present visits and shows him a very sick Tiny Tim whom Scrooge immediately forms a bond. Scrooge then sees his nephew Fred and realises that, instead of being revered for his wealth, he has become a joke and is being pitied for his situation. Finally, there is the ghost of Christmas’ future who shows Scrooge visions of his own death and Tiny Tim’s unhappy future if something is not done to change it.

Dickens elects for a classic fairy tale ending in which Scrooge realises the errors of his ways, donates a large proportion of his money to charity, Tiny Tim is saved and Scrooge re-joins his family to live happily ever after. But ‘A Christmas Carol’ is not a normal fairy tale. Amongst the magic of the ghosts who can fly and travel in time, there is a profound darkness that cannot be avoided. The moral of the story is that generosity and kindness are the keys to happiness and that wealth can only lead to misery. The only caveat is that, to not learn the moral will directly lead to misery, despair, crime and death.

Despite that, nobody can deny that this story is exceptional in its simplicity and integrity. In 100 short pages, Dickens manages to craft a story about society that is both cautionary and uplifting. Young or old, a Christmas lover or hater this is the book for you and I cannot recommend it enough.