Why read The Undiscovered Country?

Book cover of The Undiscovered Country: Journeys Among the Dead

Book description

'This is a wonderful book: curious and insightful' Ian Mortimer, author of The Time Traveller's Guide to Medieval England

We know what happens to the body when we die, but what happens to the soul? The answer may remain a great unknown, but the question has shaped centuries of tradition,…

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Why read it?

1 author picked The Undiscovered Country as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

Helen Frisby

Author

Such an elegantly written exploration of landscapes of the afterlife, where people in the past believed that souls went to after death, and how those beliefs then shaped funeral customs.

The author evinces an excellent grasp of human nature, especially when discussing the Reformation and how people often clung tenaciously to old beliefs and customs, which helped them make sense of human mortality and loss.

Roaming across the country and over several centuries, this book is packed with quirky, charming examples of how people maintain relationships with their dead.

From Helen's list on how to die well: past, present and future.