A rich anthology of memorial tributes that offers a welcome reminder that, although words cannot necessarily assuage grief, they can provide tremendous comfort and perspective during our times of loss.

The likes of Dr. Martin Luther King, Benjamin Franklin, W.H. Auden and Diana, Princess of Wales, as well as ordinary folk from the seventeenth century to the present are mourned and celebrated in the memorable eulogies, condolence letters, poems and epitaphs collected in these pages.