Necropolis London and its Dead

London is a city literally built upon its dead: the Houses of Parliament sit on the edge of a former plague pit, and subway tunnels were driven through forgotten catacombs thick with bones. Utilizing archaeology, anthropology, anecdote, and history, this gloriously macabre tour explores the presence of death in Londoners' lives and the changes in burial rites through two millennia of English history. The city's greatest disastersincluding the Great Fire and the Black Plagueare analyzed in regards to their massive impacts on the living and the dead, while the resting places of several thousand Londoners are highlighted as a means of examining population growth and city development. Implicitly entwined with the passing of generations is the transformation of an entire population; death effects how and where future generations live. From Roman burial ceremonies to the more recent passing of Princess Diana, this unique history leaves no headstone unturned.

Catharine Arnold read English at Cambridge and holds a further degree in psychology. A journalist, academic and popular historian, she is the author of the Lost Time, winner of a Betty Trask award.