Charles Dickens.

For many people, especially this time of year, the very name is synonymous with “Christmas.”

That’s precisely the essence behind “The Man Who Invented Christmas” (2008) by Les Standiford.

In this short, historical nonfiction, Standiford chronicles not only a biography of sorts on Dickens — his dreary childhood, numerous works and writing accolades — but the dire circumstances of his adult life and the times that inspired him to write perhaps his most cherished work, “A Christmas Carol.”

The year was 1843. The location — not-so-merry old England.

Dickens, at age 31, had achieved success with novels such as “The Pickwick Papers” and “Oliver Twist.” Unfortunately, he was also plagued with financial trouble thanks to falling sales, disputes with publishers and squabbles over copyright laws (which were not as sound as they are today).

As evidenced in his works, Dickens was often influenced by the plights of poor working children, by the poor in general, social inequality and unfair working conditions — sentiments also based on his own young upbringing. His father, somewhat of an idealistic schemer, ended up in debtor’s prison, as did the rest of the family. Charles, then 12, was forced to leave school to work in a boot blacking factory.

Such is the backstory that drove a despondent and desperate Dickens to wander the dreary streets of London late one October night. From these depths rose the inspiration for his noel novella, which he often referred to as his “little Carol.”

He penned the story in short order, and it was published on Dec. 19 that year. He hoped his “little Carol” — a ghost story, as it was billed — would sell enough copies to at least get the creditors off his back.

By Christmas Eve, the first edition had sold out. By the end of the next year, 13 more editions were released.

And the rest — kind of like Rudolph — is history.

So how does this mean Dickens “invented” Christmas?

Religiously speaking, of course, Christmas was “invented” more than 2,000 years ago. But for centuries afterward, it wasn’t celebrated, and in fact, barely recognized as anything other than just an ordinary day — anywhere. Forget about store sales, gifts, carols and office parties. Employers didn’t even allow time off for their workers. In Puritan New England, just the slightest mention was forbidden.

Then during the Victorian era of the mid-1840s, Christmas celebrations began to grow in popularity. People decorated Christmas trees and exchanged cards. Soon merry-making began to flourish on both sides of the pond, although such activities as Black Friday, Cyber Monday and tracking Santa on NORAD were still 100 years into the future.

Dickens, you might say, had perfect timing. He was desperate for a literary lifeline and the world, aware of it or not, was desperate for an uplifting holiday tale.

I enjoyed Standiford’s book and learned a tremendous amount. I’ll confess, I’ve not read any of Dickens’ works other than “A Christmas Carol” and knew almost nothing about him. I appreciated the descriptive picture Standiford paints of England during Dickens’ time, as well as a historical accounting of publishing history in those days. For some reason, I found the latter fascinating.

However, I had hoped he’d offer more insight into just HOW Dickens’ book has become such an integral part of our holiday culture. Today, it’s the very definition of Christmas; just how did this happen?

Standiford also included a lengthy retelling of “A Christmas Carol,” which I found unnecessary — and meager, to boot.

In 2017, Standiford’s book was made into a feature movie, which I understand is quite good. It’s next on my list. As for film and TV versions of “A Christmas Carol,” that list is probably longer than Santa’s. In my opinion, the 1951 British production is the best. Nobody does Scrooge like Alistair Sim.

May your disposition this holiday season be less “Bah Humbug!” and more “God bless us, every one!”