Morbid and informative, I absolutely love it! Can't wait to put this on as my new staff recommend book!

This book was interesting and really quick to read, even if the informations were not so further explored. the voice of the author wasn't so overwhelming and the reading experience was delectable, even if the main theme was a little bit morbid.

This was so fascinating! Reading about the traditions throughout history of death and burial was quite an experience and I have a little more respect for those in the field of burial.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review!

This book is an explanation of death and burial customs in England...dating back to medieval times. As morbid as it may sound, these things interest me.

Overall, the book was just okay. It was boring at times.... not very "fast-paced"..

Thanks to Osprey Publishing and NetGalley for the Advance Review Copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really interested in death scholarship. There, I said it. Show me a book or journal about death and burial customs and I am there.

This book is an exploration of death and burial customs in England from the medieval era to today. Yup, it's that specific which is a bit of a shame because compared to other cultures England's death traditions are...really not super interesting.

For anyone interested in the subject there's really nothing new here. The book kind of read to me like an long undergraduate essay or dissertation. That's not me being snotty, I just felt like it was overly descriptive without much deeper analysis.

It's an interesting enough read and there's some fascinating imagery butI just expected a deeper exploration considering how narrow the scope was.

Helen Frisby delievers a great resource on the traditions of death and burial broken down by eras. Death has changed so much over the years and the well written sections show you how the though of death has changed in society.

Traditions of Death and Burial was an interesting read. I did find myself cringe at some of the customary rituals. I give it three stars.

This book about death customs in England is, of course, also enlightening as to customs in other countries influenced by England (such as the U.S.). It is very interesting how death was so much more "front and center" than it is now. Many more children died young of diseases that are now usually not a problem, women died in childbirth, women died in childbirth, men died in wars, and disease epidemics killed many. Bodies were prepared and laid out at home, not a funeral parlor. I am grateful that we are less acquainted with death nowadays!

A rich summary of the funerary traditions in England. I found many interesting facts and cases where traditions and customs changed over time, were forgotten and then recovered or transformed. It was a heavy reading now and then, with several ups and downs due to the tone of the author, but it serves its purspose and entertains most of the time.

This is an interesting and informative book. The author has done her research and the book is short and concise, but I wish it had a bit more flesh on it.

Traditions of Death and Burial is a interesting and informative book. It is well written and the author has clearly done her research.

Traditions of Death and Burial
By Helen Frisby
Shire Publications, 2019

Despite the cover, this is not a macabre book at all, but instead an excellent introduction into the whole panoply of traditions and beliefs surrounding death and burial in English society from 1066 onwards.

For me, the most interesting chapter covered how the doctrine of Purgatory influenced church art, decorations, stories, documents, pious customs and works of mercy to free those souls believed to be in Purgatory, right up to the architectural development of Chantry Chapels in larger churches and cathedrals where Masses could be paid for in perpetuity for the repose of someone's soul...or at least until Henry VIII put paid to that with the Reformation.

Depictions of death and the afterlife in churches, manuscripts and books provide lots of welcome visual details; the book is profusely illustrated and the author has provided many excellent examples of death traditions from popular narrative poems and stories as well as the expected practical details of laying out of corpses, embalming, burial services and grave monuments.

Deaths during epidemics make for sobering reading, but it was not just medieval plagues such as the Black Death which people had to worry about... smallpox, cholera, measles, typhoid and diptheria could cause huge numbers of deaths during outbreaks right up to the twentieth century. War, of course always produced horrifying numbers of deaths for virtually every generation to deal with, and looking at photographs of the Commonwealth War Graves remains very sobering indeed.

Celebrity funerals past and present, death cafes, hospices, euthanasia and suicide clinics are also touched upon in the chapter on modern times, and it is quite staggering to look at how society's views of death and burial have changed dramatically over the course of a millennium. Whether for better or for worse is a moot point!
A thoroughly absorbing book, surprisingly fascinating. Well worth a read.

Many thanks to the publisher for making a copy of this book available for me to read and review via NetGalley.

3.5/5

Quick reference guide detailing English burial customs throughout different eras. The early portions of the book describing medieval traditions and practices between the living and the dead were eye opening, citing archaeological and artistic claims to back up this brief, yet extensive research.

The purgatorial references weren't as fascinating as some of the other historical knowledge cramped in here-the plague, spiritualistic rituals, and ‘disenfranchised deaths’ (AIDS). Still, the author challenges the reader to muse on what mortality means to them, and raises some important questions. How will civilization mourn the dead in the future?

This book gives a very thorough account of the history of how the English handled deaths, funerals, and burials throughout time. Some of it could be a little dry at times, but for the most part it was a very interesting read on how much things have changed over time. I did not realize how much the timing of burials has changed so much over time and the hows and whys things have changed the way they have, whether it be plagues, better ability to preserve bodies, different approaches to death and souls, etc. I would definitely recommend it for anyone interested in the topic.

"Traditions of Death and Burial" is a fascinating account of global ideas and practices revolving around death and the afterlife.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for allowing me to read an Advance Copy of this work.
In Traditions of Death and Burial Helen Frisby examines our changing thoughts about the final stages of life. The curation of images accompanying the text is excellent. Readers will be guided through the historical shift from Catholicism to Protestantism and from the sacred to the secular.
Frisby writes that: “While the Reformation in theory stripped away Purgatory and its associated ritual apparatus, by way of replacement it offered only the terrifying prospect of immediate, personal judgement before God with neither agency nor respite. It is therefore not surprising to find that the customs and traditions that had given the bereaved the comforting sense of still being in touch with the dead lingered, and in some cases, were adapted and reinvented.” Such traditions ranged from the memento mori to the custom of food being served at funerals. The type of food was largely unvaried from the Middle Ages to the Second World War!
The second section of the book begins in 1750 and charts the movement from country to cities. With this move, close quarters allowed for the spread of infectious diseases. Crowded urban burial spaces triggered reforms even as advances occurred in the fields of sanitation, vaccination, and germ theory. Death also became commercialized, especially in the nineteenth century. Funeral planning, photography, invitations, mourning wear, and commemorative items all became standard. This delayed funerals, extending the time the corpse was in the home. Fear of being buried alive and the threat of body snatchers made it imperative to keep bodies at home.

The third and final section looks at the years 1900-2000, where funeral customs and traditions have begun to wane. People live longer, life is more secularized, and death has shifted from the home to the hospital or care facility. Frisby notes that: “Following the 1939–45 war, there was a more decisive shift in favour of the practical, private death. The twin demands of institutional protocol and commercial interest subsequently came to dominate the process of dying from deathbed to committal, compounded by a culture which emphasised privacy and emotional control.”

However, this is not the end of the story. Today, “continued bonds between the dead and the living–and indeed the fact of mortality itself–are starting to be acknowledged again” in the form of death cafes, death cleaning, hospice care, and death prediction technology that only promises to gain in accuracy.
Today, there is a move back toward keeping the deceased at home (aided by cooling blankets) or, at least, to be part of washing and dressing the deceased. The author predicts that the return of this type of involvement will cause “customs and traditions to help the deceased and bereaved to move on emotionally and spiritually” to reemerge. Of particular use to the student or scholarly inclined is a resources section at the end of the book. This text would be of use to students in psychology classes that study death and dying, but proves a quick and interesting treatise for those curious about how we met death in the past and how we seek to stave it off – or meet it with dignity – today.

An interesting history on the traditions of death and burials in the U.K. It is well-researched, with the history spanning centuries. I particularly enjoyed reading about the Victorian Era’s traditions. It’s also nice to see that in our digital age, the actual ceremonies that had been previously eschewed are making a comeback, albeit in a modern way.
If you are a fan of history, strange (or not so strange) practices, or the macabre, I would suggest reading this book. It’s very informative, but not in a dry, boring way.
I received a copy of this from Netgalley and this is my honest and voluntary review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Osprey Publishing and Shire Publications for this free ARC of Traditions of Death and Burial by Helen Frisby. The review to follow is based on my own honest opinion.

Having previously worked within the funeral industry, I found this book to be well researched and well written. Although the author documents the death traditions of the United Kingdom and I’m based in Australia, our traditions are almost the same given the ancestry of my own country.

This is a short read, coming in at 97 pages. However, don’t let that number lead you to believe this book isn’t worthwhile. Based on the topic, any longer and the book would be waffling for the sake of breaking the 100-page mark. I can appreciate this piece of work for what it is – a topic rarely discussed.

I give this book 4 out of 5 coffins!

Goodreads Review:-
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/43263309-traditions-of-death-and-burial

While reading this book, I was conflicted. On one hand, I enjoyed the material and learning new things but on the other, it was clinical and too academic. It was a good introduction to the relationship we have with death. The history of England was interesting to follow through the centuries but it was too short and too shallow. It needed to be fleshed out and softened for an unfamiliar audience. This would great for someone who is curious and new to the content but it was a little flat for me.

I received an ARC via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.


I will also review Traditions of Death and Burial on December 2 on my YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCO0WAnmT0h5hbmvOBy3RF-A

For readers looking for an indepth look at modern and Middleage death customs, Helen Frisby is the person to go see. Traditions of Death and Burial is accessible, fascinating and well researched. I definitely recommend this for folks wanting to learn more about deathcare and members of the Order of the Good Death.