Download or read book A Brief History of Death written by W. M. Spellman and published by Reaktion Books. This book was released on 2014-04-15 with total page 255 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: 'A brief history of death' offers a topical survey of views concerning death and its aftermath in the Western tradition, from prehistory to the present. It explores how humans understand and come to terms with the fact of mortality and looks at the physical and social aspects of death, how dying people are treated, how the dying conduct themselves in the knowledge of their approaching demise and how survivors choose to remember the dead. W. M. Spellman examines the work of archaeologists and palaeoanthropologists to give insight into prehistoric perspectives on death through the interpretation of physical remains.