
No Ordinary Deaths
a people's history of mortality
$42.00
- Hardcover
368 pages
- Release Date
5 August 2025
Summary
No Ordinary Deaths: Unveiling the Forgotten Stories of Mortality
History remembers the grand exits of royalty and the seismic assassinations that changed the world. But what about the rest of us? How did ordinary people throughout history grapple with death?
From medieval death-watchers to Victorian funeral fashion, historian and bereavement counselor Molly Conisbee explores how dying, death, and disposal shaped the lives, beliefs, politics, and societies of our ancestors.…
Book Details
ISBN-13: | 9781800815872 |
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ISBN-10: | 1800815875 |
Author: | Molly Conisbee |
Publisher: | Profile Books Ltd |
Imprint: | Wellcome Collection |
Format: | Hardcover |
Number of Pages: | 368 |
Release Date: | 5 August 2025 |
Weight: | 574g |
Dimensions: | 238mm x 162mm x 36mm |
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What They're Saying
Critics Review
A surprisingly lively history of funerary rituals and mourning… These engaging essays offer valuable insights into the lives and deaths of ordinary men and women * Sunday Times *Fascinating … there surely won’t be a better study of the subject than Conisbee’s * Literary Review *A beautifully written and thought provoking journey through the world of death. It addresses our human compulsion to mark the end of life and how that has changed over time. It reminds us that often we are where we are, because of what others have chosen to do before us. Life affirming – Professor Sue Black, author * All That Remains: A Life in Death *An excellent survey … impressive * Scottish Legal News *No Ordinary Deaths is written with care, passion and clarity that fascinates and leaves the reader, perhaps surprisingly, with life-affirming awe. An excellent new addition to the social history bookshelves * buzz magazine *Fascinating…a compelling work of social history, exploring how we died - and how we lived – Judith Flanders, author * Rites of Passage: Death and Mourning in Victorian Britain *By introducing us to the hidden histories of those who perished in obscurity, Conisbee provides fascinating glimpses of attitudes to death through the ages – Catharine Arnold, author * Necropolis: London and Its Dead *A rich and moving history of our changing relationship to one of life’s few certainties: death. Molly Conisbee is a sensitive and empathic guide as she encourages us to look to the past to deepen our understanding of loss and grief. A captivating read – Chris Pearson, author * Collared *A fascinating and moving account of the ways, over the last 500 years, people have prepared for death, and grieved and mourned for those who have already made that final journey – Edward Parnell, author * Ghostland *
About The Author
Molly Conisbee
Molly Conisbee is a social historian who works at the University of Bristol. A bereavement counsellor and expert on the social history of death and mourning, she has curated walks on the history of death around the country, and has written for the Guardian, Ecologist and Red Pepper.
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