When We Die: The Science, Culture and Rituals of Death

Death is the last great taboo and certainly, to most people, the most frightening. When We Die is a candid look at the facts; it includes information on:

-What defines death; the biological breakdown of the body
-The causes of death, including natural death, premature death, accident, suicide, euthanasia, and homicide
-Burial and cremation practices from around the world
-Medical use of body parts; the ethics of organ transplants
-Embalming, mummification, and freezing
-Funerary rites and rituals used in religion and as depicted in art
-Death and the corpse: the emotional impact
-Mourning and grieving customs
-The care of the dying
-The magic of DNA and pathologists' skills
-Aspects of criminal investigations, including: the cause of death; fingerprinting; and identifying a corpse from teeth, bones, and blood
-Varying attitudes toward the concept of an afterlife and immortality
-The mythology of ghosts, specters, and haunting

Cedric Mims has written an informative, compelling, sometimes shocking yet often humorous account of what happens to our mortal remains when we eventually die.