'This book may on first glance appear to be about death and regrets, but is in reality about life and choices. It is warmly life-affirming ... A magnificent read that will inspire. I loved it' Sue Black 'So beautiful ... Perfectly written and judged ... A wonderful book that made me grasp life a little more firmly' Dr Chris van Tulleken A powerful, moving and hopeful book exploring what people regret most when they are dying and how this can help us lead a better life. If you were told you were going to die tomorrow, what would you regret? Ten years ago, without time to think or prepare, Georgina Scull ruptured internally. The doctors told her she could have died and, as Georgina recovered, she began to consider the life she had led and what she would have left behind. Paralysed by a fear of wasting what seemed like precious time but also fully ready to learn how to spend her second chance, Georgina set out to meet others who had faced their own mortality or had the end in sight.

Dr Sparrow is back, coping with more bizarre, macabre and hilarious situations. Following his successful debut with Country Doctor, he once more guides us through the daily rounds of the weird and wonderful in his practice on the Devon/Cornwall border. What would you do if faced with the unsuccessful resuscitation of the wrong patient, being held at gunpoint as a suspected terrorist or confronting a blind man who refuses to stop driving? And what about the little old lady who presents you with a supermarket bag stuffed with GBP20 notes? Add to this, jets crashing on the runway, fleeting glimpses of the Royal Genitalia and the haunting tale of the suicidal stranger and an abducted child - and you will start to have some idea of the unpredictable life of Dr Sparrow.

At the heart of Death and the Author is a dramatic account of D. H. Lawrence's desperate struggle against tuberculosis during his last days, and of certain, often bizarre events which followed his death. Around this narrative David Ellis offers a series of reflections about what it is like to have a disease for which there is no cure, the appeal of alternative medicine, the temptation of suicide for the terminally ill, the diminishing role of religion in modern life, the institution of famous last words, the consequences of dying intestate, and so on. These are clearly not the most immediately appealing of topics but they have an obvious significance for everyone and the treatment of them here is by no means lugubrious (even if, in the nature of the case, most of the jokes fall into the category of gallows humour). Lawrence is the main focus throughout but there are extended references to a number of other famous literary consumptives such as Keats, Katherine Mansfield, Kafka, Chekhov, and George Orwell. Not a long book, Death and the author is divided into three parts called `Dying', `Death' and `Remembrance' and is made up of twenty-two short sections. Although it incorporates a good deal of original material, the annotation has been kept deliberately light. The aim has been to combine the drama of events - a good story - with a consideration of matters which must eventually concern us all, and to present the material in a lively and accessible form.

In "Four Funerals and a Wedding," Smolowe jostles preconceptions about caregiving, defies cliches about losing loved ones, and reveals a stunning bottom line: far from being uncommon, resilience like hers is the norm among the recently bereaved. With humor and quiet wisdom, and with a lens firmly trained on what helped her tolerate and rebound from so much sorrow, she offers answers to questions we all confront in the face of loss, and reminds us that grief is not only about endings--it's about new beginnings.

Worldwide, at least 1 million people die by suicide each year and many millions more attempt suicide. However, suicide has been increasingly recognised as a preventable problem in many cases. Because of this, and the rising rates of suicide in young people, many countries have established national suicide prevention strategies. These include the United Kingdom, the USA, Scandinavian countries, other countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There is also increasing emphasis on the treatment of suicidal people and those who have made suicide attempts. In order to be effective it is imperative that strategies for treatment and prevention are based on sound scientific evidence.
In this book leading figures from psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, public health, and social medicine bring together the research evidence concerning the key elements in suicide prevention and treatment of suicidal behaviour and translate it into implications for practical action. This includes social and public health policy as well as clinical practice. The book draws together the evidence relevant to treatment and prevention, and uses this in order to highlight the most effective approaches. The range of initiatives covered is wide, reflecting the complex nature of suicide and hence the need for a range of approaches. This book will be an essential source for anyone concerned with the design and implementation of effective suicide prevention strategies, including clinicians working with individual patients, strategic policy makers, and researchers.

Worldwide, at least 1 million people die by suicide each year and many millions more attempt suicide. However, suicide has been increasingly recognised as a preventable problem in many cases. Because of this, and the rising rates of suicide in young people, many countries have established national suicide prevention strategies. These include the United Kingdom, the USA, Scandinavian countries, other countries in Europe, Australia and New Zealand. There is also increasing emphasis on the treatment of suicidal people and those who have made suicide attempts. In order to be effective it is imperative that strategies for treatment and prevention are based on sound scientific evidence. In this book leading figures from psychiatry, psychology, epidemiology, public health, and social medicine bring together the research evidence concerning the key elements in suicide prevention and treatment of suicidal behaviour and translate it into implications for practical action. This includes social and public health policy as well as clinical practice. The book draws together the evidence relevant to treatment and prevention, and uses this in order to highlight the most effective approaches. The range of initiatives covered is wide, reflecting the complex nature of suicide and hence the need for a range of approaches. This book will be an essential source for anyone concerned with the design and implementation of effective suicide prevention strategies, including clinicians working with individual patients, strategic policy makers, and researchers.

The purpose of this important book is to explore the phenomena of the low suicide rate in the concentration camps during the Holocaust, and why its survivors seem to become increasingly susceptible to suicide, as they grow older. This unique book explores this heretofore unexplored area of history by the case study method utilising the detailed biographies of famous survivors. People kill themselves usually because they are in deep despair, with no hope for the future. Surely the people in the concentration camps, especially those that were clearly extermination camps, would have been in deep despair with no hope for the future. But since they supposedly did not commit suicide at a high rate, they must not have been in such state. This puzzle of human behaviour is examined under the microscope of a well-known world expert on suicide.

Fascinated by our pervasive fear of dead bodies, mortician Caitlin Doughty set out to discover how other cultures care for the dead. From Here to Eternity is an immersive global journey that introduces compelling, powerful rituals almost entirely unknown in America. In rural Indonesia, she watches a man clean and dress his grandfather's mummified body, which has resided in the family home for two years. In La Paz, she meets Bolivian natitas (cigarette-smoking, wish-granting human skulls), and in Tokyo she encounters the Japanese kotsuage ceremony, in which relatives use chopsticks to pluck their loved-ones' bones from cremation ashes. With boundless curiosity and gallows humor, Doughty vividly describes decomposed bodies and investigates the world's funerary history. She introduces deathcare innovators researching body composting and green burial, and examines how varied traditions, from Mexico's Dias de los Muertos to Zoroastrian sky burial help us see our own death customs in a new light. Doughty contends that the American funeral industry sells a particular-and, upon close inspection, peculiar-set of "respectful" rites: bodies are whisked to a mortuary, pumped full of chemicals, and entombed in concrete. She argues that our expensive, impersonal system fosters a corrosive fear of death that hinders our ability to cope and mourn. By comparing customs, she demonstrates that mourners everywhere respond best when they help care for the deceased, and have space to participate in the process. Exquisitely illustrated by artist Landis Blair, From Here to Eternity is an adventure into the morbid unknown, a story about the many fascinating ways people everywhere have confronted the very human challenge of mortality.

Dying at the Margins: Reflections on Justice and Healing for Inner-City Poor gives voice to the most vulnerable and disempowered population-the urban dying poor- and connects them to the voices of leaders in end-of-life-care. Chapters written by these experts in the field discuss the issues that challenge patients and their loved ones, as well as offering insights into how to improve the quality of their lives. In an illuminating and timely follow up to Dancing with Broken Bones, all discussions revolve around the actual experiences of the patients previously documented, encouraging a greater understanding about the needs of the dying poor, advocating for them, and developing best practices in caring. Demystifying stereotypes that surround poverty, Moller illuminates how faith, remarkable optimism, and an unassailable spirit provide strength and courage to the dying poor.Dying at the Margins serves as a rallying call for not only end-of-life professionals, but compassionate individuals everywhere, to understand and respond to the needs of the especially vulnerable, yet inspiring, people who comprise the world of the inner city dying poor.

This unique book recounts the experience of facing one's death solely from the dying person's point of view rather than from the perspective of caregivers, survivors, or rescuers. Such unmediated access challenges assumptions about the emotional and spiritual dimensions of dying, showing readers that -- along with suffering, loss, anger, sadness, and fear -- we can also feel courage, love, hope, reminiscence, transcendence, transformation, and even happiness as we die. A work that is at once psychological, sociological, and philosophical, this book brings together testimonies of those dying from terminal illness, old age, sudden injury or trauma, acts of war, and the consequences of natural disasters and terrorism. It also includes statements from individuals who are on death row, in death camps, or planning suicide. Each form of dying addressed highlights an important set of emotions and narratives that often eclipses stereotypical renderings of dying and reflects the numerous contexts in which this journey can occur outside of hospitals, nursing homes, and hospices.Chapters focus on common emotional themes linked to dying, expanding and challenging them through first-person accounts and analyses of relevant academic and clinical literature in psycho-oncology, palliative care, gerontology, military history, anthropology, sociology, cultural and religious studies, poetry, and fiction. The result is an all-encompassing investigation into an experience that will eventually include us all and is more surprising and profound than anyone can imagine.

Michael K. Rosenow investigates working people's beliefs, rituals of dying, and the politics of death by honing in on three overarching questions: How did workers, their families, and their communities experience death? Did various identities of class, race, gender, and religion coalesce to form distinct cultures of death for working people? And how did people's attitudes toward death reflect notions of who mattered in U.S. society? Drawing from an eclectic array of sources ranging from Andrew Carnegie to grave markers in Chicago's potter's field, Rosenow portrays the complex political, social, and cultural relationships that fueled the United States' industrial ascent. The result is an undertaking that adds emotional depth to existing history while challenging our understanding of modes of cultural transmission.

Death consumes our lives. As such, it is unsurprising that our leisure time, recreational activities and playful exploits are also infatuated with dying, death and the dead. Death, Culture and Leisure offers a playful exploration of the way in which we play with both death and the dead. This inter- and multi-disciplinary work brings together a variety of scholars to consider the nexuses that exist between death, culture and leisure. Edited by Matt Coward-Gibbs, this collection provides an exploration of how our leisure time and playful exploits are interwoven with death. Embracing an array of tensions and contradictions, this book draws on a diverse trajectory of examples ranging from play in the post-Anthropocene to the articulate undead, and from the depictions of death in children's picture books to the playful activism of the death positivity movement. Bringing together debates from thanatology, game studies, sociology, music studies, theatre studies, contemporary literature, religious studies and media studies, this innovative collection offers up a rich assemblage of interdisciplinary voices. This text invites readers to not only consider the diverse ways in which we play dead but also invokes a call to explore the myriad of presentations of death, dying and disposal that exist in leisure environs.

The U.S. hospital embodies society's hope for itself-a technological bastion standing between us and death. What does the gold standard of rescue, as ideology and industry, mean for the dying patient in the hospital and for the status of dying in American culture? This book shows how dying is a management problem for hospitals, occupying space but few billable encounters and of little interest to medical practice or quality control. An anthropologist and bioethicist with two decades of professional nursing experience, Helen Chapple goes beyond current work on hospital care to present fine-grained accounts of the clinicians, patients, and families who navigate this uncharted, untidy, and unpredictable territory between the highly choreographed project of rescue and the clinical culmination of death. This book and its important social and policy implications make key contributions to the social science of medicine, nursing, hospital administration, and health care delivery fields.

The heart-wrenchingly honest new book about life and death from forensic pathologist and bestselling author of UNNATURAL CAUSES, Dr Richard Shepherd A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR 'Deeply insightful. Unflinching' THE TIMES 'A finely-crafted detective story' DAILY TELEGRAPH 'Enlightening, strangely uplifting' DAILY MAIL 'Fascinating' DAILY EXPRESS _________ Dr Richard Shepherd, a medical detective and Britain's top forensic pathologist, shares twenty-four of his most intriguing, enlightening and never-before-told cases. These autopsies, spanning the seven ages of human existence, uncover the secrets not only of how a person died, but also of how they lived. From old to young, murder to misadventure, and illness to accidental death, each body has something to reveal - about its owner's life story, how we age, justice, society, the certainty of death. And, above all, the wonderful marvel of life itself. _________ Praise for Dr Richard Shepherd 'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard 'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson 'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2 'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian 'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express 'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' Observer

The contributors to Passages and Afterworlds explore death and its rituals across the Caribbean, drawing on ethnographic theories shaped by a deep understanding of the region's long history of violent encounters, exploitation, and cultural diversity. Examining the relationship between living bodies and the spirits of the dead, the contributors investigate the changes in cosmologies and rituals in the cultural sphere of death in relation to political developments, state violence, legislation, policing, and identity politics. Contributors address topics that range from the ever-evolving role of divinized spirits in Haiti and the contemporary mortuary practice of Indo-Trinidadians to funerary ceremonies in rural Jamaica and ancestor cults in Maroon culture in Suriname. Questions of alterity, difference, and hierarchy underlie these discussions of how racial, cultural, and class differences have been deployed in ritual practice and how such rituals have been governed in the colonial and postcolonial Caribbean. Contributors. Donald Cosentino, Maarit Forde, Yanique Hume, Paul Christopher Johnson, Aisha Khan, Keith E. McNeal, George Mentore, Richard Price, Karen Richman, Ineke (Wilhelmina) van Wetering, Bonno (H.U.E.) Thoden van Velzen

In 1846, Edgar Allen Poe wrote that 'the death of a beautiful woman is, unquestionably, the most poetic topic in the world'. The conjuction of death, art and femininity forms a rich and disturbing strata of Western culture, explored here in fascinating detail by Elisabeth Bronfen. Her examples range from Carmen to Little Nell, from Wuthering Heights to Vertigo, from Snow White to Frankenstein. The text is richly illustrated throughout with thirty-seven paintings and photographs. -- .

In The Curse on Self-Murder, the second volume of his three-part Suicide in the Middle Ages, Alexander Murray explores the origin of the condemnation of suicide, in a quest which leads along the most unexpected byways of medieval theology, law, mythology, and folklore.

This enthralling book explores the experience of dying, death, grieving, and mourning in the years between 1830-1920. Drawing upon the abundance of Victorian letters, diaries, and death memorials, Pat Jalland explores the many aspects of death in the Victorian family including issues around children's deaths, funerals and cremations, widowhood, mourning rituals, and the roles of medicine and religion within society. This reveals a most fascinating and enlightening preoccupation with death, indicating that the Victorians have much to teach contemporary society in their practical and compassionate treatment of bereavement.

This book is a brief but comprehensive survey of research, writings, and professional practices concerned with death and dying. It is interdisciplinary and eclectic--medical, psychological, religious, philosophical, artistic, demographics, bereavement, and widowhood are all considered--but with an emphasis on psychological aspects. A variety of viewpoints and research findings on topics subsumed under "thanatology" receive thorough consideration. Questions, activities, and projects at the end of each chapter enhance reflection and personalize the material.
This fourth edition features material on:
* moral issues and court cases concerned with abortion and euthanasia;
* the widespread problem of AIDS and other deadly diseases;
* the tragedies occasioned by epidemics, starvation, and war; and
* the resumption of capital punishment in many states.
The book's enhanced multicultural tone reflects the increased economic, social, and physical interdependency among the nations of the world.
Topics receiving increased attention in the fourth edition are: terror management; attitudes and practices concerning death; cross-cultural concepts of afterlife; gallows humor, out-of-body experiences; spiritualism; mass suicide; pet and romantic death; euthanasia; right to die; postbereavement depression; firearm deaths in children; children's understanding of death; child, adolescent, adult, and physician-assisted suicide; religious customs and death; confronting death; legal issues in death, dying and bereavement; death education; death music; creativity and death; longevity; broken heart phenomenon; beliefs in life after death; new definitions of death; children's acceptance of a parent's death; terminal illness; and the politics of death and dying.

Issues of Death offers a fresh approach to the tragic drama of Shakespeare and his contemporaries. Starting from the premise that death is a historical construct that is differently experienced in every culture, it treats Renaissance tragedy as an instrument for re-imagining the human encounter with death. Analyses of major plays by Marlowe, Kyd, Shakespeare, Webster, Middleton, and Ford explore the relation of tragedy to the macabre tradition, to the apocalyptic displays of the anatomy theatre, and to the spectacular arts of funeral.

In past centuries, human responses to death were largely shaped by religious beliefs. Ralph Houlbrooke shows how the religious upheavals of the early modern period brought dramatic changes to this response, affecting the last rites, funerals, and ways of remembering the dead. He examines the interaction between religious innovation and the continuing need for reassurance and consolation on the part of the dying and the bereaved.

The third edition of Hospice and Palliative Care is the essential guide to the hospice and palliative care movement both within the United States and around the world. Chapters provide mental-health and medical professionals with a comprehensive overview of the hospice practice as well as discussions of challenges and the future direction of the hospice movement. Updates to the new edition include advances in spiritual assessment and care, treatment of prolonged and complicated grief, provision of interdisciplinary palliative care in limited-resource settings, significant discussion of assisted suicide, primary healthcare including oncology, and more. Staff and volunteers new to the field along with experienced care providers and those using hospice and palliative care services will find this essential reading.

After Homicide describes the collective responses of bereaved people to the aftermath of violent death, a subject not dealt with in any detail in the literature that is currently available. The book concentrates particularly on the birth, development and organization of the self help and campaigning groups that emerged in the last decade. The author examines these as attempts to give institutional expression to interpretations of grief.

In addition, the author had special access to a number of groups and uses the infomation that he gathered through this access to discuss the practical and political importance of the work of these groups, and their affects on policing, the media and the law.

Recently retired, Dr Sparrow reveals with refreshing candour and dark humour the most memorable experiences of his career as a rural GP. From sewing back on a patient's chiselled finger on a call-out, and the emergency countryside delivery inspired by James Herriot, to suddenly remembering the body left in the back of a Volvo, and a small oversight that blew up the local crematorium, Dr Sparrow spares no blushes.