Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies

Written for both laymen and professionals, this book gives answers the questions that everyone wants to ask in a question and answer format. What really happens to a dead body? What does our culture do with corpses and what have other cultures done? How does a body turn to dust? What happens in embalming, cremation, cryogenic preservation, autopsies, anatomical dissection, organ donation, burials, and funerals? How do we transport bodies and what does a medical examiner really do? How about the more bizarre uses for corpses, such as cannibalism, body snatching, use in secret rites, research, and religious ceremonies? This book describes individual and societal experiences, drawing not only from the medical sciences, but also from the arcane and secretive world of the funeral industry. We rarely speak about death—because it is the pornography of our culture and we know so little about it. This book sheds light into dark corners of our society and proves that, once again, truth is stranger than fiction.