Rest in Peace: A Cultural History of Death and the Funeral Home in Twentieth-Century America

Though it has often been passionately criticized—as fraudulent, exploitative, even pagan—the American funeral home has become nearly as inevitable as death itself, an institution firmly embedded in our culture. But how did the funeral home come to hold such a position? What is its history? And is it guilty of the charges sometimes leveled against it? In Rest in Peace, Gary Laderman traces the origins of American funeral rituals, from the evolution of embalming techniques during and after th...