The Book of Christmas

The perfect gift - a beautiful book of traditions and myths for the Christmas season

Brimming with baubles of Christmas fact and bedecked with snippets of festive tradition

Jane Struthers is the author of over twenty books, including Red Sky at Night: The Book of Lost Countryside Wisdom, Beside the Seaside and Literary Britain and Ireland. She shares her 17th-century cotttage and garden in East Sussex with her husband and two cats.

- What is the significance of holly at Christmas? 
- When should you make your figgy pudding? 
- Why was the Old Lad's Passing Bell rung on Christmas Eve? 
- And who was Good King Wenceslas? 
 
Did you know that, long before turkey arrived on our shores, it was traditional to serve a roasted wild boar's head at Christmas? Or that our Christmases were once so cold that Frost Fairs were held on the River Thames? 
 
Christmas Day was first celebrated on 25 December in the fourth century CE. But when should our Christmas decorations come down - Twelfth Day, Twelfth Night ... or Candlemas? And why? 
 
Packed with fascinating facts about ancient religious customs and traditional feasts, instructions for Victorian parlour games and the stories behind our favourite carols, The Book of Christmas is a captivating volume about our Christmas past.

The Book of Lost Country Wisdom

Red Sky at Night

The indispensable guide to everything we knew and loved before we went inside and turned on the TV

The indispensable guide to everything we knew and loved before modern life got in the way. This gorgeous and beautifully illustrated countryside miscellany is the perfect purchase for anyone wanting to go back to their roots and rediscover a lost world... 
 
'Beautiful book' -- ***** Reader review 
'A delightful book with some lovely illustrations' -- ***** Reader review 
'A heart-warming read, I love this book' -- ***** Reader review 
'Magical' -- ***** Reader review 
'Lovely book to just DELVE into' -- ***** Reader review 
'A little gem!' -- ***** Reader review 
'Sheer delight!' -- ***** Reader review 
**************************************************************************************************** 
Ever wondered how to predict the weather just by looking at the sky? 
Or wanted to attract butterflies to your garden? 
Is there a knack to building the perfect bonfire? 
And how exactly do you race a ferret? 
 
In this world of traffic tailbacks, supermarket shopping and 24-hour internet access, it's easy to feel disconnected from the beauty and rhythms of the natural world. 
 
If you have ever gazed in awe at stars in the night's sky, tried to catch a perfect snowflake or longed for the comfort of a roaring log fire, then this is the book for you. 
 
From spotting Britain's five kinds of owl to gardening by the phases of the moon, from curing a cold to brewing your own ale, and from navigating by the stars to making sloe gin, Red Sky at Night is packed with instructions and lists, ancient customs and old wives tales, making it an indispensable guide to countryside lore.

Both a fascinating read and an indispensible guide... a truly inspiring book

In a market cluttered with gifty nostalgia books this one stands head and shoulders above the others... Outstanding

Jane Struthers lives in rural East Sussex. A professional writer, she shares her 17th-century cottage and organic garden with her husband and two cats.

Recipes, History, Snippets

Pies

Charming giftbook containing fascinating facts about pies and tantalising recipes for making your own

Jane Struthers is a keen cook specializing in all forms of baking. She is also a devoted organic gardener who grows a wide range of vegetables and fruit in her cottage garden in rural East Sussex. Jane Struthers is the author of twenty books including Britain from the Air and Literary Britain and Ireland.

This delightful book tells you everything you ever wanted to know about pies - from their surprising beginning in Ancient Egypt, through their adoption by the Romans to their journey to becoming a popular British classic. Did you know that originally the pastry on pies wasn't eaten? Or that what we call pies were once termed 'coffyns' or 'coffers'? Pies reveals these curious facts and is packed with snippets and trivia that will inform and amuse anyone from the avid cook to the culinary novice. 
 
Some of our most famous and well-loved dishes are pies - from mince pies at Christmas, to regional specialities which have become national favourites like the Melton Mowbray pork pie and the Cornish pasty. Jane Struthers takes a look at the origins of these classics and includes easy and accessible recipes for you to try in your own kitchen. From mouthwatering recipes to surprising facts, Pies is packed full of material as appealing as a sumptuous Bakewell Tart or a hearty Steak and Ale pie.

Jane Struthers

Entertaining and edifying in equal measure ... its sheer scope alone guarantees that there'll be plenty to savour

An end-of-pier lucky dip of seaside fun ... A fun book that is awash with edifying flotsam and jetsam

The book is packed with enjoyable, lively and interesting anecdotes

Informative and beguiling ... Charmingly put together with apt little drawings ... Jane Struthers tells many a fine tale

Wherever your seaside haunt this book is one to pack

A real mine of information. Thoroughly recommended

A Celebration of the Place We Like to Be

Can you remember why the sea is salty? 
How does the moon affect the tide? 
Where were Britain's most notorious places for smugglers? 
And what was the mystery of St Michael's Mount? 
 
There are almost as many stories about the sea as there are pebbles on the beach. Beside the Seaside is a book for anyone who has been captivated by the crash of waves on sand, thrilled by the exploits of pirates or delighted in an ice cream at the end of the pier. 
 
Answering such questions as what to look for in rock pools, which are the best knots and how to avoid being cursed by a mermaid, Beside the Seaside is bursting with facts, fables, history and mystery about Britain's seaside and coast.

Jane Struthers

Praise for Beside the Seaside

Nautical but nice

Entertaining and edifying in equal measure ... its sheer scope alone guarantees that there'll be plenty to savour

An end-of-pier lucky dip of seaside fun ... A fun book that is awash with edifying flotsam and jetsam

Nautical but nice

Entertaining and edifying in equal measure ... its sheer scope alone guarantees that there'll be plenty to savour

An end-of-pier lucky dip of seaside fun ... A fun book that is awash with edifying flotsam and jetsam

Nautical but nice

Entertaining and edifying in equal measure ... its sheer scope alone guarantees that there'll be plenty to savour

An end-of-pier lucky dip of seaside fun ... A fun book that is awash with edifying flotsam and jetsam

Books by Jane Struthers

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