Spontaneous Combustion: Amazing True Stories of Mysterious Fires

What causes normal, apparently healthy human beings to suddenly blaze to death? To the Victorians, it was the ultimate proof that drinking was wicked: hellfire itself seemed to claim the victim of spontaneous human combustion (SHC). SHC leaves the body burned to fine ash apart from perhaps a foot or the top of the victim s head, yet furniture nearby might be little more than singed. Is it, as the Victorians thought, fire from the inside ? SHC is a scientifically recognized phenomenon, but few scientists can agree on its cause. This book studies the theories that seek to explain a horrifying form of death. Illustrations.