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Death to Dust: What Happens to Dead Bodies? by Kenneth Iserson, Galen
Press, Tucson, Arizona, pp 709, $38.95

A huge range of queries from ‘Why do people die?’ and ‘What does an
autopsy cost?’ to ‘Are all bodies at sea eaten by fish?’ and ‘Who gets to
lie in state?’ fill the pages of Death to Dust. The author, a university
professor of surgery, has produced a fat book, which consists of hundreds
of questions and answers, that could be subtitled ‘What you always wanted
to know about death, but were afraid to ask’.

To those ‘in the trade’, such as undertakers, pathologists and vicars,
there is vast amount of useful information, but I suspect that many more
squeamish readers wouldn’t want to know some of the ans-wers, such as ‘Will
the worms crawl in?’

Although this is a very American book, much of the material in Death
to Dust is universally applicable, apart from the legal considerations and
some of the more florid excesses of the transatlantic funeral rituals which
make up the so-called ‘American way of death’.

There is a blow-by-blow account of the preparations of the corpse for
the funeral, almost a DIY guide to embalming and cosmetic restoration.

More interesting are the sections on the historical, ethnic and geographical
variations in death practices. Examples include the statistical prevalence
of cannibalism, the use of human scalps to make cloaks for Scythian warriors
and the practice of the Parsees in disposing of their dead by exposure to
vultures. As in most books on the dead, premature burial gets plenty of
attention, with drawings to illustrate the Victorian obsession with designing
safety coffins with flags and bells to summon help in the event of the corpse
waking up when six feet down.

Apart from the mass of fascinating trivial, there is a great deal more
of serious import – especially of a medical nature. This is to be expected
from a senior surgeon, so the nature of brain death, the desirability and
procedures for providing organs for transplantation, and the usefulness
of the autopsy are all discussed clearly and accurately.

A whole section is devoted to pathology and the autopsy, with practical
information about the legalities of consent and obtaining a report, as well
as the mechanics of dissection.

All in all, Iserson has written a fascinating, if gruesome book, but
I suspect that the reaction of many readers will be: ‘I don’t wish to know
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Bernard Knight is professor of forensic pathology, University of Wales
College of Medicine, Cardiff.