GRAVEYARDS

An arresting and poignant cultural history of graveyards from early burial sites to now Why how and where do we inter our dead How do we set out to remember them The Pyramids of Giza the catacombs and columbaria of Rome and the cenotaphs erected to the world s war dead are but some of the answers In inimitable style Roger Luckhurst probes the often moving sometimes contested ways in which people throughout history have responded to the problem of laying the dead to rest Blending history art literature and popular culture Graveyards explores the various different aspects of the treatment of the dead Chapters range from early burials and the emergence of necropolises and catacombs to grave robbing garden cemeteries and the perilous overcrowding of the urban dead to monuments for deceased heroes and rulers and the development of modern memorial culture The products of our persistent fascination with graveyards are everywhere in literature art film and television and Luckhurst engages these cultural afterlives alongside grave sites particular social and historical contexts Illustrations throughout offer insights into the rich and unusual visual culture of the grave helpful guides and provisions for the afterlife tender dedications gravestones an