Product Description

This work provides a social history of death from the earliest times to Diana, Princess of Wales. As we discard the 20th century taboo about death, this book charts the story of the way in which our forebears coped with a fundamental aspects of their daily lives. The book reveals how attitudes, practices and beliefs about death have undergone constant change: how, why and at what ages people died; plagues and violence; wills and deathbeds; funerals and memorials; beliefs and bereavement. This wide-ranging analysis of death in England is illustrated throughout with photographs and images, their diversity reflecting and breadth of issues and periods covered.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #96421 in Books
• Published on: 1999-12-30
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 300 pages

Customer Reviews

The concept of death has never been brought so "alive"!
The book is broken down into 10 chapters, each written by an expert in their field and describes death from the earliest inhabitants of England right throught to the death of Diana. It describes the different burial practices occuring and more importantly, why they occured when they did. The book combines historical and archaeological knowledge to explain what led to the attitudes of death that society held. The pictures are amazing and consist of paintings, carvings and photographs of burial practices. A must-read for anyone interested in the subject of death throughout history.