?The social dimension of death is the focus for a selection of essays, such as death as an event, social responses to death, the cemetery as a cultural institution. The contributions are arranged in chronological order: colonial era, nineteenth century, twentieth century. Two basic theses unify the presentations: the domestication and beautification of death which took place between the late eighteenth and nineteenth century and the twentieth century withdrawal on the part of the living from communion with and commitment to the dying and the dead. Many insightful vignettes.?-Fuller Theological Seminary