Our love of life makes the inevitability of death very difficult to accept. Death is a comprehensive examination of that inevitable and universal human experience. To better our understanding of death--and so perhaps fear it less--the book explains the biological processes and the different causes of death, and examines the human perceptions of death throughout history and across cultures.

Death is abundantly illustrated with masterpieces of art, paintings and sculptures and their representations of death, as well as abundant diagrams that explain the science of death. It methodically explores the biological limits of life, the rituals of death and describes the events surrounding the loss of life, using the most current research and medical analyses.

Chapters cover diverse topics associated with death. They include:

• Consciousness and the soul
• How the body dies
• Terminal illness and dying slowly
• Methods of death
• Poisons, deadly animals and plants
• Flu pandemics, the new viruses
• Unsanitary conditions and deadly diseases
• Murder and execution
• Euthanasia and ethics
• Creatures from beyond the grave
• Violent and dramatic deaths
• Cheating death.

Death is sprinkled generously with humor and the wisdom of the great thinkers. Reflecting on our philosophical, scientific and spiritual understanding of death, it speaks to our visceral fears and allows us to better appreciate life.

by Richard Béliveau, PhD and Denis Gingras, PhD ; Preface by Pierre Bruneau

Richard Beliveau's profile page

Denis Gingras has worked for several years on the borderline between science and literature, his two childhood passions. The holder of a doctorate in physiology from the Université de Montréal (1993) and a post-doctoral degree from McGill University (1996), for fifteen years he was a researcher specializing in oncology in the Hemato-oncology Service at Hôpital Sainte-Justine.

Denis Gingras' profile page

Remarkably comprehensive... factually solid...Visually entertaining and beautiful... [Will] appeal to a general audience, as well as to teaching professionals.

Science Books and Film

Well-written and uplifting... a beautiful book dense with illustrations and photographs none of which sensationalizes or is apt to offend.

Winnipeg Free Press

This volume encompasses far more, approaching a "coffee table book," however incongruous this might seem given the topic, and will interest a wide audience.

Publishers Weekly

The authors provide an easily understandable, copiously illustrated guide to the many ways in which we may die.

Globe and Mail, Christmas 2012 Gift Book List