Forensic pathologist Philippe Charlier--dubbed the "Indiana Jones of the graveyards"--travels to Haiti where rumors claim that some who die may return to life as zombies. Charlier investigates these far-fetched stories and finds that, in Haiti, the dead are a part of daily life. Families, fearing that loved ones may return from the grave, urge pallbearers to take rambling routes to prevent the recently departed from finding their way home from cemeteries. Corpses are sometimes killed a second time--just to be safe. And a person might spend their life preparing their funeral and grave to ensure they will not become a wandering soul after death. But are the stories true? Charlier's investigations lead him to Vodou leader Max Beauvoir and other priests, who reveal how bodies can be reanimated. In some cases, sorcerers lure the dead from their graves and give them a potion concocted from Devil's Snare, a plant more commonly known as Jimsonweed. Sometimes secret societies use poudre zombi--"zombie powder"--spiked with the tetrodotoxin found in blowfish. Charlier eagerly collects evidence, examining Vodou dolls by X-ray, making sacrifices at rituals, and visiting cemeteries under the cloak of night. Zombies follows Charlier's journey to understand the fascinating and frightening world of Haiti's living dead, inviting readers to believe the unbelievable.

Zombies: An Anthropological Investigation of the Living Dead

History

Charlier, Philippe

Americas

University Press of Florida

Did Richard the Lionheart really die from a simple crossbow wound, or was there foul play? Who are the two infants buried in Tutankhamun's tomb? Could a skull found in a tax collector's attic be the long-lost head of Henri IV? In When Science Sheds Light on History, Philippe Charlier, the "Indiana Jones of the graveyards," travels the globe to unravel these and other unsolved mysteries of human history.
To get answers, Charlier looks for clues in medical records, fingerprints, and bloodstains. He reconstructs the face of Robespierre from masks molded from his body after death and analyzes charred bones to see if they really are Joan of Arc's. He discovers lethal levels of gold in the hair and bones of King Henry II's mistress Diane de Poitiers, who used gold salts to "preserve her eternal youth."
Charlier also pieces together the stories of people whose names and lives have long been forgotten. He investigates Stone Age graves, medieval necropolises, and museum collections. Playing the role of both crime-scene investigator and forensic anthropologist, Charlier diagnoses a mummy with malaria, an ancient Greek child with Down syndrome, and a stately Roman with encephalitis. He also delves into ancient miracles and anomalies: a mute boy able to speak after making sacrifices to the gods, a woman pregnant for five years, and a serpent that cured a broken toe with its tongue.
Exploring how our ancestors lived and how they died, the forty cases in this book seek to answer some of history's most enduring questions and illustrate the power of science to reveal the secrets of the past.

When Science Sheds Light on History: Forensic Science and Anthropology

Vaudou - L'homme, la nature et les dieux (Bénin)

Politics & Social Sciences

Anthropology

PLON

Ouvrez quelques cadavres

Medical Books

Medicine

Buchet/Chastel

La Tortue d'Eschyle et autres morts stupides de l'Histoire

Literature & Fiction

FULIGNI, BRUNO

Alliot, David

Chaumelle, Olivier

Chef, Frédéric

Léandri, Bruno

Humor & Satire

ARENES

À l’occasion du bicentenaire de la mort de l’Empereur, le musée national des châteaux de Malmaison et Bois-Préau fait découvrir grâce à une centaine d’œuvres, les multiples visages de Napoléon Bonaparte. Aucune personnalité historique n’aura autant suscité la création de portraits, peints, dessinés ou sculptés, tant de son vivant qu’après sa mort. Au-delà de toutes ces images, quels étaient les véritables traits de Napoléon Bonaparte? Est-ce le jeune homme fougueux aux traits émaciés du vainqueur de Marengo, le héros antiquisant à la plastique classique apparue sous le ciseau de Canova, le visage hiératique de l’Empereur ou le visage épaissi de l’exilé à Sainte-Hélène??Une seule image, réaliste s’il en est, celle donnée par le masque mortuaire. Qu’ils soient réalistes, idéalisés ou inventés, tous ces portraits sont des images fortes de communication politique. Conservateurs, historiens d’art, historiens, médecin légiste allient leurs compétences afin de percer le mystère du véritable visage de Napoléon.

Napoléon aux 1001 visages

Meunier, Céline

Tamisier-Vétois, Isabelle

Cause, Élisabeth

Cariel, Rémi

Carpentier, Valérie

Deschamps-Tan, Stéphanie

PINCEMAILLE, Christophe

FATON

Yokai Ghosts: By the Great Masters of Japanese Woodblock Printing

Arts & Photography

History & Criticism

Prestel

Czego ucza nas umarli (Polish Edition)

Esprit

Autopsie des fantômes: UNE HISTOIRE DU SURNATUREL

TALLANDIER

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