Description

Author/Contributor(s):	Gogol, Nikolai; Summers, Anna; Makovsky, Konstantin; Grabar, Igor; Kivshenko, Aleksei
Publisher:	Penguin Classics
Date:	10/8/2014
Binding:	Hardcover
Condition:	NEW

One of six beloved Christmas classics in collectible hardcover editions

Writtenin 1831 by the father of Russian literature, this uproarious tale tellsof the blacksmith Vakula’s battle with the devil, who has stolen themoon and hidden it in his pocket, allowing him to wreak havoc on thevillage of Dikanka. Both the devil and Vakula are in love with Oksana,the most beautiful girl in Dikanka. Vakula is determined to win herover; the devil, equally determined, unleashes a snowstorm to thwartVakula’s efforts. Zany and mischievous, and drawing inspiration from thefolk tales of Gogol’s far-flung village in Ukraine, The Night Before Christmas is the basis for many movie and opera adaptations, and is still read aloud to children on Christmas Eve in Ukraine and Russia.

Penguin Christmas Classics

Give the gift of literature this Christmas.

PenguinChristmas Classics honor the power of literature to keep on givingthrough the ages. The six volumes in the series are not only our mostbeloved Christmas tales, they also have given us much of what we loveabout the holiday itself. A Christmas Carol revived in VictorianEngland such Christmas hallmarks as the Christmas tree, holiday cards,and caroling. The Yuletide yarns of Anthony Trollope popularizedthroughout the British Empire and around the world the trappings ofChristmas in London. The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus created the origin story for the presiding spirit of Christmas as we know it. The holiday tales of Louisa May Alcott shaped theideal of an American Christmas. The Night Before Christmas brought forth some of our earliest Christmas traditions as passed down through folk tales. And The Nutcracker inspired the most famous ballet in history, one seen by millions in the twilight of every year.

Beautifullydesigned hardcovers—with foil-stamped jackets, decorative endpapers, andnameplates for personalization—in a small trim size thatmakes them perfect stocking stuffers, Penguin Christmas Classics embodythe spirit of giving that is at the heart of our most time-honoredstories about the holiday.

Collect all six Penguin Christmas Classics:

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens
Christmas at Thompson Hall: And Other Christmas Stories by Anthony Trollope
The Life and Adventures of Santa Claus by L. Frank Baum
A Merry Christmas: And Other Christmas Stories by Louisa May Alcott
The Night Before Christmas by Nikolai Gogol
The Nutcracker by E. T. A. Hoffmann

For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,700 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.