A Social History of Dying

This is a major review of the human and clinical sciences literature about human dying. The historical approach of this book places recent images of cancer dying and medical care in broader historical, medical and global context. Dying is traced from its origins as an otherworld journey to its later development as ‘good death’ or ‘well-managed’ dying in settlement societies. Professor Kellehear argues that most dying today is not well managed. Instead, we are witnessing a rise in shameful forms of dying. It is not cancer, heart disease or medical science that present modern dying with its greatest moral tests but rather poverty, ageing and social exclusion.