Digging up the dead

Describes cemeteries in different countries and of varying cultures, including Jewish and Mexican.

Examines human sacrifice and execution practices from a variety of cultures and countries, including China, Crete, and England.

Examines famous crypts, tombs, and mausoleums, and looks at burial rituals.

With the help of some chemicals and a bit of hard work, bodies can have a long life well after a person's death. Early embalming efforts in ancient Egypt were meant to preserve bodies for the afterlife. Today, we preserve bodies in a variety of ways to honor our loved ones after they're gone. With great facts and figures, readers will get an inside look at the funeral homes and other places where we preserve our dead. From organs in jars to modern embalming, this series offers full-color photographs and lots of information about the various processes that have helped preserve the dead for centuries.

Inside this creepy volume, readers will find amazing photographs of charnel houses and ossuaries, including the dark passages of the Paris catacombs and the ornately decorated Sedlec Ossuary.

Horror movies are filmed in Highgate Cemetery in London, England. The oldest headstones at the Old Jewish Cemetery in Prague, Czech Republic, are from the 1400s. In Cairo's City of the Dead, the poorest citizens live next door to graves! While visiting these graveyards isn't for the faint of heart, readers can enjoy all the spooky spectacles through detailed descriptions and history. Full-color photographs show the different ways cultures have buried their dead, from the beauty of Zentralfriedhof in Vienna to the restrained dignity of Arlington National Cemetery. Sidebars augment the main content with haunted tales and the famous people buried there.

Crypts, tombs, and mausoleums arent just the creepy props of a horror movie; theyre the final resting places of the dead. Many are also beautifully designed monuments. This intriguing examination of some of the worlds most prominent tombs includes the elaborate Taj Mahal, the mysterious Newgrange, the mammoth Great Pyramid, and the star-studded Westminster Abbey. Modern tombs and burial customs are also discussed in this thoughtful text, accompanied by vivid, striking photographs. Sidebars and fact boxes offer more--sometimes chilling--details about various tombs and burial rites.