This book examines death rituals and the social significance of undertaking in western society and presents an ethnographic account of funeral directing in an area of east London which, for the purposes of anonymity. It is concerned with undertakers' perceptions and organization of death rituals.
Introduction
CHAPTER 1 Modern Death Rituals and the Undertaker
CHAPTER 2 The Business of Funeral Directing
CHAPTER 3 Funeral Directing in Easton
CHAPTER 4 Becoming an Undertaker
CHAPTER 5 The Contaminated Corpse
CHAPTER 6 Making Arrangements
CHAPTER 7 Humanizing the Body
CHAPTER 8 The Funeral Ceremony
CONCLUSION: The Undertaker: Past, Present, and Future
Bibliography
Index
Biography
Glennys Howarth
