Macmillan Encyclopedia of Death and Dying

This carefully prepared two-volume reference will be useful and accessible to a wide audience of professionals, students, and general readers looking for summaries and starting points for research on the multiplicity of topics related to death and dying. Some articles are only a few paragraphs long, but most are several to many pages; each includes cross references and a bibliography. A detailed index helps tie themes together, and an appendix profiles 75 relevant organizations. Reflecting the broad reach of the subject matter, the contributors represent many fields; and articles address medical, theological, literary and artistic, historical, psychological, and sociological aspects in addition to discussing work and profiling people directly connected with the field of thanatology. An article on the September 11 terrorist attacks is included. Editor Kastenbaum (Arizona State University) contributed 29 of the 327 articles; the other authors most from the US but many also from Canada, Australia, and the UK typically wrote only one, although several contributed a half dozen or so. Supporting the text are 150 b&w images. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)