A Christmas Carol: The Unsung Story

by Brian Sibley, Charles Dickens, John Leech (Illustrator)

This title tells the story of how "A Christmas Carol" by Charles Dickens came to be written - out of Dickens's deep conviction that Christian people must help the poor and needy - and of how it has been taken to people's hearts, from first publication to the latest Muppet version. The first few chapters set the scene and introduce the book, describing how and why it was written. Then comes Dickens's text. The story of what has happened since rounds off the book. The Dickens text has the original Leech line engravings. Other illustrations are drawn from different editions and versions, including some film stills and so on.

200 pages, Paperback

Published September 30, 1994

About the author

Brian Sibley is an English writer, broadcaster, and award-winning dramatist.

The author of over 100 hours of radio drama and hundreds of documentaries and features for the BBC, he is best known for his acclaimed 1981 radio adaptation of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Lord of the Rings, co-written with Michael Bakewell, as well as dramatizations of C. S. Lewis’s The Chronicles of Narnia, Mervyn Peake’s Gormenghast novels, and Richard Adams’s Watership Down.

Sibley has also written numerous original plays for radio, presented popular BBC programmes including Kaleidoscope and Talking Pictures, and produced documentaries on figures ranging from Lewis Carroll and Ray Bradbury to Julie Andrews and Walt Disney.

His contributions to broadcasting have earned him accolades such as the Sony Radio Award and the BBC Audio Drama Award for Best Adaptation.

In print, Sibley is the author of many acclaimed film “making of” books, including Harry Potter: Film Wizardry, The Lord of the Rings: The Making of the Movie Trilogy, and Peter Jackson: A Filmmaker’s Journey, as well as companion volumes for The Hobbit films, The Golden Compass, and Disney classics. His literary works range from Shadowlands to children’s books like The Frightful Food Feud and Osric the Extraordinary Owl, with stories appearing in official Winnie-the-Pooh collections.

A noted Disney historian, Sibley has contributed essays to The Walt Disney Film Archives and recorded DVD commentaries for classic films. He is the editor of J. R. R. Tolkien’s The Fall of Númenor, winner of the Tolkien Society’s Best Book award in 2023.

Sibley has served as President and Chair of The Lewis Carroll Society and is an honorary member of The Magic Circle, the Tolkien Society, and The Children’s Books History Society.

Reviews

[John Anthony · Rating 4 out of 5]

This incorporates Dickens' Christmas Carol, which has always meant a lot to Sibley – I can relate to that too. He did a programme about it for Radio 4 some years ago and this book followed that.

Interesting reading about the context in which Dickens wrote CC - largely to raise cash. Even in his own time Dickens appears to have been recognised as an authority on Christmas, loving it and knowing how to celebrate it. The story is told of a London flower girl who, when told of Dickens' death feared the death of Christmas also.

Found the biographical stuff on Dickens extremely interesting. A number of rather bad printing errors in the book.

[Brenda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've never read it before but it was so familiar, probably due to all the screen adaptations I've seen. Not as smarmy as most of the movies, it has sly wit and serves up it's social commentary in a palatable way. It makes me think the British really know how to do Christmas.

Note: I didn't read the edition they have on the icon. I have the Signet Classics version titled "A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories."