A Song For The Season

Ever since Mark began his Monday morning Song Of The Week feature, some of his most popular essays have been those that mark the turning of the calendar - a song for Christmas or Easter, Spring or Fall... So here, in response to reader demand, is a handsome, illustrated collection of Steyn's songs for the season, a musical calendar beginning at the stroke of midnight at New Year with "Auld Lang Syne" and continuing through "My Funny Valentine", "Summertime" and "Autumn Leaves" to "White Christmas". You'll also find the stories behind songs for Groundhog Day and Oscar Night, Labor Day and Halloween, and for Independence Day, Dominion Day, St Patrick's Day and other national holidays.

A Song For The Season also includes never before published essays on favorites such as "Easter Parade", "Ain't Misbehavin'" and "Loch Lomond". And Mark tells the story not just of the songs but of the history surrounding them, from the Civil War to the 1893 Chicago Fair to the fall of Madagascar's monarchy. From patriotic anthems to Sixties novelty hits, Broadway showstoppers to French movie themes, Steyn rounds up the songs that mark the days of our lives. These stories are "part memoir, part tribute, part music criticism, and altogether brilliant," says Powerline's Scott Johnson.