Description
In this illustrated book historian and folklorist Helen Frisby describes how, since the Middle Ages, people have prepared for death and sent the dead on their way. The Black Death spawned a rich funerary culture, which came under attack during the Reformation. However, some old customs, such as the passing bell and funeral tea, persisted well into the Industrial Age. Meanwhile, customs which now seem long established have much more recent origins; professional undertakers first emerged in the 1700s, whilst the Victorians invented the garden cemetery and legalised cremation.
