In The Midst Of Life

The Australian Response to Death

By: Des Tobin, Graeme M Griffin

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Paperback | 1 August 2025 | Edition Number 2

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A useful, well-informed, compassionate book on a taboo subject-from lively social history to thorny contemporary questions.

This is a thoroughly useful, authoritative and compassionate book about the last taboo subject-death. In exploring our responses to death, it reveals a great deal about Australian society.

There is grim humour in the practical details of burial in the days of pick and shovel-and a priest if you were lucky. Stories of elaborate Victorian mourning etiquette, of poignant personal histories recorded on gravestones, of vehement debates about cremation, and much more, make good reading.

The authors-a theologian and a funeral director-use this frank social history to look at questions we often avoid. What is grief? How can we help ourselves and others through it? What choices do we have for farewelling our loved ones? Are the rituals of churches, funeral parlours and cemeteries flexible enough to meet our endlessly varied needs? Both professional and general readers will find many answers and yet more questions in this informative and reassuring book.

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You Can Find This Book In

Non-Fiction Family & Health Coping with / Advice about Personal, Social & Health Topics Coping with / Advice about Death & Bereavement History Regional & National History Australasian & Pacific History Society & Culture Sociology & Anthropology Sociology Sociology & Death & Dying

Acknowledgements
Conversions and Abbreviations
Introduction	p. 1
When Death Comes Home	p. 4
Dealing with Grief	p. 29
Graves and Graveyards	p. 52
Headstones and Epitaphs	p. 90
New Directions	p. 99
The Funeral Service	p. 119
The Funeral Procession	p. 150
The Place of the Funeral Director	p. 172
Funeral Costs - Value for Money?	p. 203
Why Funerals?	p. 235
Notes	p. 254
Index	p. 272
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.

In The Midst Of Life

The Australian Response to Death

A useful, well-informed, compassionate book on a taboo subject-from lively social history to thorny contemporary questions.

Shipping

How to return your order

Defective items

You Can Find This Book In

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