Death, Modernity, and the Body

Adds attention-grabbing and pertinent materials, gathered from Swedish archives, to the growing body of critical works on death in the Western world. * AMERICAN HISTORY REVIEW *
Provides an invaluable source of knowledge about attitudes toward the dead during modernisation. One by one, the chapters offer important insights in customs and thoughts and show how modernity profoundly changed the ways we deal with the undiscovered country from whose bourne no traveller returns. * SOCIAL HISTORY OF MEDICINE *
An imaginative and sophisticated study of death practices around the turn of the twentieth century. Focusing on the handling of the cadaver through such cultural practices as dissection, display, photography, and cremation, Eva Åhrén has given us a richly textured exploration of how the living made meaning through the management of the dead. This is a fascinating contribution to medical history, the history of the body, and the wider history of death in modern Western societies. -- -- John Harley Warner, Avalon Professor and Chair, History of Medicine, Department of History, Yale University
Eva Åhrén's book contributes significantly to our knowledge of the modern history of death. The focus on Sweden adds an important case with some distinctive features, and the emphasis on the treatment and uses of the dead body generates fascinating conclusions. Well-researched and written, the book maintains a commendably high level of analysis. -- -- Peter N. Stearns, Provost, George Mason University