IT HAS to be one of the most evocative songs ever written. Hear the first few bars and a traditional Christmas scene always springs to mind writes Beverley Greenberg

Equally, watch the snow fall at Christmas time, and the tune creeps up on you.

How ironic that it was written by a Jewish writer.

So how did this tune grow into the official popular anthem of Christmas?

Celebrated songwriter Irving Berlin initially wrote the song without thinking too deeply about it.

He envisioned it as "a throwaway" -- a satirical novelty number for a vaudeville-style stage review.

But as the reputation of the songwriter, from humble Russian-Jewish immigrant beginnings, began to grow, so did the popularity of a song which embraced American values of the day.

It was featured in the musical film Holiday Inn.

That was in 1942 and matinee idol and superstar of that time, Bing Crosby, the all-American hero, performed the song in the film, introducing it to a wider world.

During the troubled times of the 1940s the almost wistful tones of the perfect white Christmas where everyone and everything is "merry and bright" immediately appealed across the Western world. It captured the imagination of first of all an American public who yearned for the idealised New England past so well represented in the song.

Author Jody Rosen uses this song as a focal point. She uses its progress to chart the world in which it developed. To understand the song's success, Rosen shows you have to understand the communities whose growing devotion to it allowed it to thrive.

Irving Berlin's story is a fascinating one all of its own, and while this is no biography, it does provide an insight into a man who is arguably remembered among the world's best ever songwriters.

He was well aware of the success of White Christmas and what it meant to a then warring world, once being quoted as not-so-modestly saying "Not only is it the best song I ever wrote, it's the best song anybody ever wrote."

Of course another fascinating aspect of the period in which the popularity of White Christmas grew, is its backdrop -- mid-century Broadway and Hollywood.

Both had grown into giants within the world's entertainment industry.

And the men who ran them were manipulative and sharp enough to avoid the pitfalls that war brought with it.

In the book Rosen takes the story of White Christmas beyond its initial rise to popularity, but then takes it a stage further, investigating just why it has endured over the decades and how its peaceful, home loving sentiments have managed to continue to capture the hearts and minds of generation after generation.

You do not have to love the song in question to enjoy Rosen's book (although what's not to like?).

It is a step into the history of popular entertainment, and an accessible, yet fascinating insight into what appeals to the masses, and why.

It celebrates not only Christmas but the artistic and commercial peak of the golden age of popular song writing.

Published by Fourth Estate, price £12.99.