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 1

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'How we deal with death can be very important for the way we live.' This challenging conviction is the cornerstone to a thoroughly useful, authoritative and compassionate book. In exploring Australian responses to death, it contributes to the growing interest in what such responses reveal about our society - and how we might deal better with death as a part of life.
To understand today's practices and attitudes we must go back - to mourning customs, funeral and burial arrangements since the First Fleet; to descriptions of elaborate Victorian etiquette; to the personal histories recorded on gravestones; to vehement debates for and against cremation. The story makes fascinating reading.
The authors use this social history in order to look squarely at the questions we still shy away from. What is grief? How can we help ourselves and others through it? What are the practical decisions to be made when a relative or friend dies? What choices do we have? Are the rituals of churches, funeral parlours, cemeteries and crematoria flexible enough to meet our endlessly varied needs? These questions confront us all at some time.

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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

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