The Oxford Companion to the Year

PART I: THE BULK OF THE BOOK CONSISTS OF A JANUARY-DECEMBER LISTING, DIVIDED BY MONTH AND THEN BY DAY. EACH MONTH BEGINS WITH INFORMATION, FOR EXAMPLE ETYMOLOGY OF THE NAME AND QUOTATIONS, DEALING WITH THE MONTH IN GENERAL, AND EACH DAY CONTAINS INFORMATION ON HOLIDAYS AND ANNIVERSARIES, SAINTS AND THEIR LEGENDS, HISTORICAL AND SOCIAL CUSTOMS, AND RELEVANT QUOTATIONS FROM HISTORICAL AND MODERN TEXTS. PART I ENDS WITH A DISCUSSION OF SEASONS, MONTHS, TERMS, WEEKS, AND DAYS IN GENERAL, A SECTION ON THE WESTERN CHURCH AND THE ORTHODOX CHURCH YEARS, AND FINALLY SECULAR HOLIDAYS NOT TIED TO A SPECIFIC DAY (E.G. THANKSGIVING). PART II: A MORE TECHNICAL SECTION ON CALENDARS, THROUGHOUT HISTORY AND ACROSS THE WORLD, AND CHRONOLOGY, INCLUDING COMPUTUS.