A fascinating, detailed and humane exploration of the lessons the dead can teach us, penned by a leading professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology.
Waterstones Scottish Book of the Month for April 2019
Sue Black confronts death every day. As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All that Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her.
Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue's book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel.
Our own death will remain a great unknown. But as an expert witness from the final frontier, Sue Black is the wisest, most reassuring, most compelling of guides.
Publisher: Transworld Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 9781784162818
Number of pages: 368
Weight: 260 g
Dimensions: 197 x 127 x 22 mm
One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn’t. I found it invigorating! - Andrew Marr, BBC Radio 4 'Start the Week'
Black’s utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is “as much about life as about death”. - PD Smith, Guardian
An engrossing memoir ... an affecting mix of the personal and professional. - Erica Wagner, Financial Times
A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity ... Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with. - Rowan Williams, New Statesman
For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul ... All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness, pre-fictionalized. Except, you know, really good. - Helen Rumbelow, The Times
Wow, I tell you I wasn't read for this rollercoaster of emotions as I was reading this book. What an utterly fascinating and eye opening read. a book not for the faint hearted but a fantastic read throughout. I... More
Reading about the experience and science of death may not be the most appealing, but Dr Black's writing is hard to put down. It is a wonderful work, full of humour, insight and fascinating research.
As someone who's knowledge of forensic procedures was based on watching too many episodes of Bones & NCIS I was intrigued when I saw this was coming out, it's not only an insight into this but also... More
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