From Dust to Ashes: Cremation and the British Way of Death

Three quarters of us now choose cremation for our funerals. Researched from original sources, From Dust to Ashes is the first full-length account of this process in Briatin and analyses the religious, political, economic and social reasons behind our individual choices. The 'Victorian way of death' was challenged by a succession of reformers. One such was Queen Victoria's surgeon, Sir Henry Thompson, who founded the Cremation Society in 1874. Cremation won its first legal recognition in the trail of the Welsh druid, Dr William Price, in 1884. Despite the Cremation Act 1902, cremation was slow to win public approval, but in the conditions of a twentieth-century society twice at war, cremation grew rapidly after 1945. Today, the cremation movement is responding to new challenges, of which environmental concerns are the chief. This book will be fascinating and authoritative reading for social anthroplogists, social historians, sociologists of the family, as well as funeral directors in training.

Table of Contents:
List of Abbreviations Preface and Acknowledgements Introduction How The Church Lost Its Monopoly Of Burial, 1820-1852 Cremation Legalised, 1852-1884 The Early Years of Cremation, 1884-1914 The Development of Cremation, 1914-1939 The Advance of Cremation: Wartime and Reconstruction, 1939-1952 The Popularisation of Cremation in England, 1952-2000 Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

About the Author :
PETER C. JUPP is a United Reformed Church Minister and a Visiting Fellow in the Department of Sociology, University of Bristol, UK. He is a founding editor of the quarterly journal Mortality, Chairman of the Council of the Cremation Society of Great Britain and a non-executive director of the London Cremation Company.

Review :
'[T]his study can be read with benefit both by scholars with historical, sociological or theological interests and by non-specialists interested in how societies change their customs.' - Ageing & Society 'This gem of a study focuses on documenting the success of cremation for the disposal of remains in England... Scholars involved in research on funerals, cremation, or even more broadly, social movements, will find this a most useful tome.' - Kenneth J. Doka, Omega: Journal of Death and Dying In comparison to another book on the History of Cremation: 'With the growing interest in, and study of, death, both of these books will be welcomed by specialists. A broader readership will be better served by the greater historical, sociological and theological scope and sophistication of Jupp's Study.' - Richard Sykes, Journal of Ecclesiastical History