Music and texts of 201 carols for the Christmas season (many in more than one setting), each with copious notes on historical background and performance. An extensive general introduction gives an overview of the history of the carol, and there are a number of appendices dealing with specific areas of the repertory. The book's approach is an attempt to rediscover the native vitality of material that has sometimes been debased and sentimentalized, by means of `authentic' period settings and a concern for historically informed performance. 'It is hardly an exaggeration to say that the publication in 1992 of The New Oxford Book of Carols caused a sensation. For many of us it showed for the first time the extent of the carol repertoire from all over the world, and in particular, presented those carols we thought we knew best in versions that were as near to being authentic as could be deduced. The performance traditions of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries were stripped away, and the pieces could be appreciated afresh.' Esther Jones, Church Music Quarterly, December 03 Andrew Parrott is at the Taverner Choir, Consort, and Players.