From Dust to Ashes

The second edition ofFrom Dust to Ashesbrings up-to-date this classic text investigating the replacement of burial by cremation in England and Wales. Cremation was promoted seriously in 1874 but the first cremation did not take place until eleven years later. The response by the public was cautious.Despitethe provision of crematoria, by 1939, less than 4 percent of deaths were followed by cremation. The Second World War and the immediate post-war welfare state period brought drastic change to the extentthat by 1967 the number of cremations first exceeded burials. Today,the proportionisjustover 80 per cent.The final chapter addresses the enormous changesin the last twenty-five years in the disposal of our dead This book discusses the activities of the Cremation Society, the establishmentof early crematoria, and the promotion of cremation against the background of social and economic change before outlining the reasons why bereaved families choseto accept it and, finally, the social, economic and religious pressures that facilitated its adoption. The book will therefore be of use to scholars of death studies, anthropology, sociology, health and medicine andchurch history, as well as members of the funeral professions.