Necropolis: London and Its Dead

Catharine Arnold's London #1

by Catharine Arnold

From Roman burial rites to the horrors of the plague, from the founding of the great Victorian cemeteries to the development of cremation and the current approach of metropolitan society towards death and bereavement -- including more recent trends to displays of collective grief and the cult of mourning, such as that surrounding the death of Diana, Princess of Wales -- LONDON AND ITS DEAD offers a vivid historical narrative of this great city's attitude to going the way of all flesh. As layer upon layer of London soil reveals burials from pre-historic and medieval times, the city is revealed as one giant grave, filled with the remains of previous eras -- pagan, Roman, medieval, Victorian. This fascinating blend of archaeology, architecture and anecdote includes such phenomena as the rise of the undertaking trade and the pageantry of state funerals; public executions and bodysnatching. Ghoulishly entertaining and full of fascinating nuggets of information, Necropolis leaves no headstone unturned in its exploration of our changing attitudes to the deceased among us. Both anecdotal history and cultural commentary, Necropolis will take its place alongside classics of the city such as Peter Ackroyd's LONDON.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, London, Death, Historical, British Literature, Microhistory

321 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2006

About the author

Catharine Arnold read English at Cambridge and holds a further degree in psychology. A journalist, academic and popular historian, Catharine's previous books include the novel "Lost Time", winner of a Betty Trask award. Her London trilogy for Simon & Schuster comprises of "Necropolis: London and Its Dead", "Bedlam: London and Its Mad" and "City of Sin: London and Its Vices".

Reviews

[Melki · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you like reading history with a slightly macabre touch, you should find this book to be absolutely fascinating.

Here is a brief overview of burial customs through the centuries, from the mass graves hurriedly dug for plague victims to the rising social acceptance of cremation.

Several chapters are devoted to the Victorians who elevated mourning and bereavement to an art form. Much like the lavish wedding industry that exists today, funerals were BIG business. Stores like Jay's London General Mourning Warehouse sprang up to serve the needs of the grieving, and social ostracism awaited those who could not afford the required black wardrobe, horses, a carriage and at least fifteen black ostrich feathers.

Remember the kerfluffle of a few years back about a mismanaged cemetery and crematorium? Now, imagine if THIS went on today...

It emerged that bodies were burned behind a brick enclosure, and gravestones moved about to give the appearance of emptiness in certain parts of the ground. Spa Fields was designed to hold 1,000 bodies. Walker calculated that by burning coffins, mutilating remains, and using vast quantities of quicklime, at least 80,000 corpses had been buried there.

Is it any wonder gravediggers needed to be inebriated to make it through a day's work?
In addition to risking death due to constant exposure to human remains in a state of putrefaction, there were others horrors to be experienced when attempting to bury too many bodies in one area, as one young gravedigger's story would attest...

"One day I was trying the length of a grave to see if it was long and wide enough, and while I was there, the ground gave way and a body turned right over, and the two arms came and clasped me around the neck."

Shiver!

Want more?

Google grave wax. I dare you.

Like Mary Roach, Arnold manages to keep a light touch when telling even the darkest tales. There are splashes of humor, black though they may be, splattered throughout the book.

And so, to keep things nice and cheery, I'll finish with the story of the panic that struck in 1664 when a comet appeared in the skies above London. In addition to the usual prognostications of imminent doom, citizens were treated to the sight of radical dissenter Solomon Eagle who ran naked through the streets with a pan of burning charcoal on his head, warning Londoners to repent their wicked ways.

If only YouTube had been around then...

[Nicky · Rating 3 out of 5]

Necropolis is surprisingly compelling and readable. Most of it isn't at all dry or dull -- at times the names and dates blur into each other, but most of it is fascinating. It covers traditions of burial and mourning from the pre-Roman period to more or less the present, especially as concerns London.

It's kind of amazing how we take relatively recent burial traditions for granted -- for my family, the plot of land bought years ago, the simple headstones, a flowerbed over the grave, and an expectation that all that will remain ours and as it is until long after we've died ourselves. We expect the cemetary to be green and peaceful, kept tidy and the grass mown... Yet this sort of thing couldn't be expected even in the Victorian period.

Anyway, a fascinating book -- quite light reading, which might seem odd given the subject matter, but that's how it is.

[Anjella · Rating 2 out of 5]

Started off well but got very dry and boring after a while. The cover says "Catharine Arnold romps across the cemeteries" but it's much more of a trudge with an occasional trip over a grave to give a story about someone buried, but the actually interesting stories seem to be just hinted at and left behind. The early sections were good, though so little of burials pre-Roman times unfortunately, but once it hits the Victorian era she gets bogged down in details of who bought what cemetery and for how much and what they built and how much it cost and it just seems to get bogged down in dry facts. I was hoping for more as I loved her Underworld London.

[Lorraine · Rating 3 out of 5]

So much phenomenal information on London and its dead! Catharine Arnold’s Necriopolis: London and Its Dead is a beautifully researched book on burial practices in London beginning with The Celts & The Romans - both pagan religions. The first line in this book is “High above London stands one of the city’s oldest burial grounds.” This sentence refers to “The Bronze Age tumulus on Parliament Hill Fields” which is ‘over 4000’ years older than the Victorian cemeteries (1800s) that were developed such as Kensel Green and Highgate because of the mass overcrowding of churchyards, burial grounds, and city cemeteries which had become a health problem. Then add the Plague Pits also found in London, officials and residents had to solve this huge problem! Just imagine all the natural death that is a fact of life that took place in London during this 4000 year span along with invasions by the Angles, Saxons, Jutes, and the Vikings who ultimately lived in and around London while engaging in war with The Britons and each other which added to the death rate plus The Black Death which made repeated appearances that would ‘wipe out’ villages completely accompanying the deaths occurring in London. Where to place all these bodies? The authoring does a very thorough job explaining burial practices, Victorian mourning which became quite a business, and advocates who hoped to put into practice a healthier and more efficient burial procedure. My problem concerns my copy which was published by Pocket Books in 2007. This fabulous amount of info is in such small print it truly limited my interest as I had to put it down so often. What a shame! 3.25 stars.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

I do not think I actually want to know how many of my reviews on here touch on the subject of the soul of place, of genius loci. It's a fair few, and I doubt that number will be a static one. And so it goes. I have to wonder whether studying the spirit of a city like London, a city which has a distinct personality, one that has aged and matured like a person might, whether such a course might aid me in detecting the spirit of smaller places, towns and cities less venerable. Maybe, maybe not. This book definitely slots into my study of London and its history quite well. It is a decent overview of how London has dealt with its deceased throughout it's long history. It does open with prehistoric burials and quickly covers the Romans as well. It does so briefly, but in enough depth to get an idea of their funerary practices. The section on the medieval concept of death was well done, and I discovered an unfortunate gap in my knowledge in the process. That gap would be the personification of Death as Doctor Machabre. Now that is a good villain sobriquet. I may use it. From 1500 until the early 1800's in fairly brief, as there were few changes, and most of what is covered is the history of the graveyards themselves. Then we get to the meat of the book- the Victorian Way of Death. So many things were covered here, and so many tantalizing references that were not pursued. Like the fact that there was a definite undercurrent of eroticism to portrayals of a woman in mourning. Or the idea of the Good Death versus the Bad Death. Finally there is a look at how World War One affected English funerary practices. Quite an enjoyable book, I must say.

[Lisa · Rating 5 out of 5]

A fascinating look at how London has dealt with its dead through the ages, taking us from the Pagans and Romans, through the Middle Ages and the Victorians, up until modern times, and taking in numerous plagues and epidemics, a few fires and two World Wars, the death of Lady Di and the London bombings, while moving from outside the city, into its heart and then back out again.

Informative, astonishing, gruesome and revealing, this book nearly managed to outdo my record of how many times I could turn to Nik with a "Listen to this!" - I think he was being bothered at least once a page (although he'd probably say it felt like more. He was trying to watch football, after all).

Whether it be the charnel houses with their decorative skeletal chandeliers, the boisterous medieval graveyards and their town centre on a Saturday night atmosphere (complete with heavy drinking, fighting and regular deaths), the putrescent Victorian burial yards that actually killed the living, the drunken gravediggers, the exploding coffins and the showers of remains, the embalmed wives on display in living rooms, or the brides making 'grave clothes' for their potential future children, each page was bursting with jaw-dropping and frequently stomach-turning facts.

Gladstone is quoted within: "Show me the manner in which a nation cares for its dead, and I will measure with mathematical exactness, the tender mercies of its people, their loyalty to high ideals, and their regard for the laws of the land."

In that case, Arnold shows us here that we don't have an awful lot to be proud of.

**Also posted at Randomly Reading and Ranting**

[Kat · Rating 4 out of 5]

Why does the tube make those weird turns between Knightsbridge and South Kensington?

Why do we wear the colour black for mourning?

Why was King James I not allowed to enter London for days after the death of Queen Elisabeth I ?

Questions like these are answered in this entertaining and informative book, and the answers all have to do with funerals. As a former gravedigger I have a professional interest in cemeteries, but I'm generally interested in funerals.

Also, since London has been my chosen home for many years I'm obviously also interested in its history. London is so big and so old that you're literally standing on historic ground wherever you are in the city. Beginning with bronze age burial mounds, via medieaval mass graves for plague victims all the way to the state funeral for Lady Di this books tells the story of London's dead with many historical details and entertaining anecdotes.

I recommend this to any Londoner interested in the history of their city.

[Tara – The BookSirens Weekend Reader · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is certainly a different way to look at a city. Especially one of the most prominent capitals in the world. As someone who enjoys the occasional history read, and someone who has been to London quite a few times, this was immensely fascinating. The writing is wonderful, and while there’s plenty of academic information, it is not at all boring. After reading this, I have a whole new appreciation for London and can see myself being aware of what lies beneath where I walk in the city.

[Bjorn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Peter Ackroyd's London: The Biography a few years ago, I was struck (as Ackroyd intended) by the idea of genius loci: the soul of a place. Every single person, every single building, every single atom of London has been replaced several times over - and yet the places remain, the names remain, the ghosts remain.

Which is very much where Necropolis lives. Dealing with both the logistics and the emotions surrounding death in a large city that has to make room for both living and dead, it's at once a very knowledgeable history of funereal practices in London as they mirror shifting attitudes towards life, death, mourning and remembrance, and an almost giddily morbid collection of anecdotes about all the different ways people die and stay dead (from plagues and bombing campaigns wiping out thousands per day, to individual deaths and funerals). If the minutiae of legal disputes over cemetery locations and investment schemes bore you, just flip a page and there'll be a story of Jeremy Bentham's head being used in a football match.

The one real complaint I can think of is that (at least going by the paperback edition) there are a few too many occasions where Arnold goes on at length about the design of a particular memorial, or the image of an overflowing churchyard in the 18th century, where I find myself having to put the book down and google for illustrations I wish were in the book. One of the points the book makes is that even long after they've become wormfood, the dead make up an indelible part of the cultural and physical landscape; actually showing that landscape more wouldn't have hurt. For the most part, though, Arnold is a good enough writer that I can imagine it myself, and I know what I'll be doing next time I'm in London.

[Flapper72 · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting book that, although focusing on London, I found answered questions about British people's relationship with death and the disposal of bodies how that has changed and why it has needed to - population growth, disease and war amongst things that have forced the method of perceiving death and disposing of bodies differently. The book was a bit bottom heavy, more detail about more recent time compared with Roman times, but that is to be expected as there is far more documented about the plague, the blitz than more ancient times. I found the whole book extremely interesting, learnt a lot and would be keen to read more of this author's writings.

[Leo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. Even though it's about a subject I'm interested in and it's very readable I wasn't in love with this book as I was thinking I would be. But it's very interesting and full of macabre facts.

[Florin Pitea · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very well documented, nicely written, with relevant examples and black-and-white images. Recommended.

[Maggi LeDuc · Rating 5 out of 5]

Absolutely fascinating.

[Nailya · Rating 2 out of 5]

Okay I wanted to love this, but the standards of popular history writing have improved dramatically since 2005. I only read up to the 17th century chapters, and I refuse to continue. I still wanted to leave a review as a warning for anyone who might pick this up. Given how liberal the author has been with their so called research on the topics I know something about, I do not trust her to inform me about things I don't know about. The author quotes from random primary and secondary sources completely uncritically, and states very dubious things as facts. For example, she refers to Anne Boleyn as a 29 year old at the time of her execution - not impossible, but most scholars agree that she was around 35-36. Similarly, the almost certainly fake letter by 'Anne Boleyn written to Henry VIII from the Tower of London' is referred to as a gospel truth, and the footnote to a dubious secondary source for the letter itself is just the cherry on top of this particular cake. And yes, I am yet to come across a serious Tudor scholar who argues that the letter is authentic. The chapter about the Plague is moving, but most of it is based on Daniel Defoe's book written about 60 years after the event - again, the issue of temporality is not discussed, we are just provided with the story as a fact. If you know nothing about death in London, this book's footnotes have some gems, and it might give you some ideas. It is, paradoxically, an interesting starting point for some fun research. However, most of the time I read non-fiction to be reasonably informed, not to double check every single thing I am reading. Generally, I trust authors enough not to have to do that, but I can't trust Catherine Arnold.

[Julie Brown · Rating 3 out of 5]

While this book was an intriguing read, some of the items stated as facts were not true. For example, in Chapter 3, p. 34, she says that Cardinal Wolsey was sent to the scaffold, but he wasn't. Cardinal Wolsey died of an illness on his way to see Henry VIII; it's a well-documented fact. He was probably going to be executed, but he died naturally before it could happen. On p. 35, she says that Anne Boleyn was only convicted of treason, not incest. Anne Boleyn WAS convicted of incest, as well as treason, along with her brother. Also, on the same page, it is stated that Henry VIII married Jane Seymour the day after Anne was executed. Henry VIII and Jane Seymour did not get married the day after Anne Boleyn's execution, they were betrothed on that day. I don't know the other history bits well enough to know if there are things wrong, but three incorrect events on two consecutive pages makes me a bit leery.

I'm a little sad about this because because she is a good writer. I wish she would have checked these easily-found facts. They're readily available in many primary resources as well as websites such as hrp.ork.uk

[Danie Ware · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ghoulishly fascinating, a journey through the layers and centuries of London’s dead and the various cultures that surrounded them, from Roman times right up to the present day. Engagingly written, packed with quirky and interesting facts, it covers plagues, wars, death cults and classic British stoicism, and the national outpouring of grief that followed the death of Diana in 1997. Particularly captivating was the Victorian obsession with death as a celebration (and a very lucrative business, thank you), and seeing just how much of the London we know is built upon the bodies of our forebears.

Added: is just as good on a second read!!

[Jo · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arnold looks at death and funerary rites and people's attitudes towards death, mainly centred around London. She covers everything from the pre-Roman era to the defiance of Londoners after the bombings of 2005. Truly fascinating and Arnold has such a wonderful writing style that veers towards the chatty rather than the academic.

[Andrea · Rating 3 out of 5]

In thinking about cities and how they work I never considered death in its proper light, and what burial requires in a crowded metropolis. Having just finished Necropolis: London and its Dead, that has certainly changed. Neighbourhoods founded on putrescence, typhoid, bones emerging from the ground along with noxious gases and flying beetles, all of these things were unknown to me and dwelt upon at greater length here.

I enjoyed this book, though it is more an historical presentation of quirks and facts around death and burial that does not much interrogate that history. It relates portions of A Journal of the Plague Year , for example, as essentially the straight transcribing of Henry Foe's diaries without discussion of claims that it is one of the earliest novels, and just how much of it is fiction flowing from the pen of nephew Daniel Defoe, the actual author, who was five during the events described. There is no exploration of what drove George Walker and Edwin Chadwick to exhaustively catalog burial grounds and campaign against them, or Isabella Holmes to dedicate her life to cataloging them so that they might be converted into public parks. Views on death are presented as essentially monolithic, though changing over time. Nothing is ever monolithic.

So with that caveat, here are a collection of just some of the more interesting facts. There was something about a writer's skull, I can no longer remember now, in fact numerous stories about skulls, bodies left to science, bodies stolen, bodies mummified on public display. I never knew that during the French Revolution people took an entire month destroying the tombs of the Bourbons and the bodies within them, then continued back through the dynasties. I appreciate that kind of revolutionary commitment to such unpleasant work, clearly all of those kings inspired an immensity of fury among their people. Fascinating on a different level was the business of death, though this is hardly a robust political economy of burials and cemeteries:

In addition to existing burial grounds, new ones were founded as speculative ventures by entrepreneurs, These were either attached to existing churches and chapels, or created on plots purchased by developers. There were fourteen of these by 1835, including Spa Fields, Clerkenwell, which had started life as a tea-rooms but was then converted to the rather more profitable purpose of human burial: New Bunhill Fields, Islington; Victoria Park Cemetery, Bethnal Green at Cambridge Fields (five acres); and Sheen's New Ground in Whitechapel (two acres) (97).

Architects and planners were quick to take note of Loudon's suggestion. Joint stock companies devoted to the foundation of new cemeteries sprang into being...Cemeteries had become a form of property development (125)

It is interesting to think of this in relation to the new business of cremation, how hard the possibility of it had to be fought for (aided by Shelley's untimely death, interestingly enough), how that impacted land use in the city and suburbs. In addition to Walker, Chadwick and Holmes there is another figure to investigate further -- Stephen Geary (1797-1854), who over the course of his career designed one of London's first public houses -- The Bell in Pentonville Rd, moved on to design London's first 'gin palace', opened near Aldgate in 1830, and then moved on into cemetery design and formed the London Cemetery Company. He became a teetotaler and I presume slightly less fun all around in his third phase of work, but I love how this can be seen as a progression through alcoholism but also on more metaphysical levels.

To find and read, there is Charles Dickens the 'City of the Absent' and the 'Soul of London' by Ford Maddox Ford.

Unexpected was the discovery that Victorian mourning dress was actually poisoning people -- the veil was 'Originally made from crape, this oppressive garment frequently afflicted wearers with asthma, catarrh and even cataracts as a result of exposure to the black dyes.' (208) That seems worth more study as well.

At the end there comes a description of Charlie Brown's lavish funeral within recent East End memory, owner of the pub the Railway Tavern found at the corner of Garford St in Limehouse. It's like she doesn't quite know what to do with this rowdy outpouring of emotion that doesn't fit into her schematic, like that over the funeral of the Krays (or of Princess Diana). There is story in Morrison's Tales of Mean Streets that exemplifies the spirit of what funerals meant to the poor of the East End, if not the widespread actions of those who are grieving. But I also couldn't help remembering Maud Pember Reeves describing the pennies laid by in societies for the burials of family members, her incomprehension of it until investigation proved the decision as sound as any other. These kinds of nuances and outside sources not directly related to the business of dying and Dickens as old standby aren't much in evidence in here and would have added a good deal I think.

I wanted to note also that I never found Bunhill Fields a gloomy place as she does -- somehow that made me question every judgment in here. I find Bunhill Fields quite a wonderful place, unlike say Norwood which I do find overwhelming and creepy. That was the last cemetery I visited and I almost decided once and for all I am no longer fascinated by such places as I once was. But I do love these smaller burial grounds, and all these other cesspools of human remains now made such beautiful and welcome pockets of green filled with flowers, and so I will spend more time tracking down Isabella Holmes, who made that possible.

[^ · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very enjoyable, and a stark reminder of how quickly and massively London has grown. As the present-day population continues to increase, one cannot help but wonder what future technologies will develop for the disposal of our dead.

I should have liked to have learned more about Roman and Saxon cremation / burial practices in London; however, I guess I shall simply have to take myself off the Museum of London.

This book doesn’t really get into its stride until it reaches description and discussion of the unfortunate victims of the Great Plague (1662 onwards). No other book has brought my attention so vividly and effectively as to the enormity and rate of the death toll wreaked by that plague; which must have been truly terrifying to those who lived through it. Not so nice either for present day workmen on major engineering projects, who run the risk of digging into unmarked ‘plague pits’. The radical and extensive work now beginning at Euston, for the HS2 rail project, may perhaps prove interesting.

The other significant strength of this book lies in its discussion of how the Victorians planned for and coped with disposal of their dead. A shortage of churches and City graveyards led to the development of out-of-town cemeteries and (later) essential space-saving cremation. As the First Book of Common Prayer (1549) phrases it, “We brought nothing into this world, neither may we carry anything out of this world.” (spelling updated). When the Brookwood cemetery (1849) was constructed in the heathlands of Surry (near Woking), a very significant part of the attraction was the idea of the train bearing the coffin leaving the densely populated, smoky, city; pulling out through the surrounding villages, and into the fresh daylight, sunshine, and green fields of the country. Alas, no more. Those Victorian cemeteries are well and truly locked into the present day sprawl of London.

Endnotes and a bibliography provide for further reading.

[Loren · Rating 5 out of 5]

London is basically built on layer upon layer of graves. The book opens with the Bronze Age tumulus on Parliament Hill, which she calls one of the oldest burial grounds in the city, predating Highgate Cemetery by over 4000 years. I would have liked to hear much more about the earliest burials in the area.

And I would have liked to read more about the Roman-era graves as well. I was thoroughly fascinated by the earliest chapters of this book, since those are the times I am the least familiar with.

The book really grabbed me when it explored the plague pits of the medieval Black Death. I hadn't realized that the Danse Macabre (or Machabray) had ever come to England from the continent. I could have read much more about those centuries, although so little seems to be left above ground to mark them.

The Tudor chapters were fascinating, but things started to slow down for me after that, as the author got into material I knew better. If you are newer to the study of all things dead in London, you might find this crucial material. For me, the pace dragged.

There were highlights, though. I loved to read about Shelley and Keats in Highgate Village, before the cemetery was built. I'm fascinated by the work of Isabella Holmes, previously unknown to me. She visited every surviving graveyard in London, in hopes of closing them down and converting them to parks. I'm going to have to track down her reports. And the chapter about the fight to legalize cremation gave me insight into another subject I don't know enough about.

All in all, this is a very readable book, full of intriguing tidbits and lots of food for thought. However, I wish each chapter had a map to display the locations of the places she talks about -- or better yet, transparent maps so you could overlay them as see how deep the bodies go.

[Lizixer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beginning far back in the mists of time at the bronze age tumulus on Parliament Hill and ending in an informal memorial garden in Kings Cross for the victims of a terrorist bombing, Catherine Arnald explores both changing attitudes to death and the ways that disposal of the dead changed. Our mediaeval ancestors lived cheek by jowl with death burying their dead close by, but cataclysmic events such as the Black Death and the 1665 plague spelled changes that eventually saw the end of inner city burial grounds and a move to the Elysian fields of Highgate and Stoke Newington. Even these proved unable to cope with the sheer numbers resulting in a return to the traditions of the Roman Londoners who buried their dead outside the city limits.

The book dwells long on the Victorian cult of death with some fascinating detail about such developments as the necropolis railway and the rise of a social movement that promoted cremation in the teeth of fierce opposition.

Well researched and written, with lots of macabre detail for the more ghoulish, this book serves as an excellent introduction to all things to do with dying and disposal of the dead in London.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

When a book is introduced with the line "London is one giant grave" you know you're in for a good time. It skips quite merrily through the history of Roman and Saxon burial before getting into the meat of things: the plague, and the history of the grand Victorian cemeteries. There's the odd (very welcome) poetic interlude, and it really gets across quite how grotty London has been for most of its history - until recently the price of city living was a remarkably high death toll. Along the way to get to pick up some amazing morbid facts - the plan for a pyramid of thousands of tombs on Primrose Hill, the diversion of the Piccadilly Line to avoid plague pits, cremation wasn't made legal until 1901 - which I've been regaling my friends with for weeks. In general it leans more towards telling a good story over giving the raw historical facts, but it's not like there aren't plenty of other places where you can get more detail if you're after that. If you love London and its history then you should probably read this.

[Siobhan · Rating 3 out of 5]

We all have those family members who like to lumber you with things once they find out about your interest.

Well this book came from my aunt when she found out about my interest in forensic psychology. Supposedly I need to become an expert in the criminal world – mainly I need to be able to recite the heinous acts of countless individuals across history.

Okay, maybe she did not put it like that but it sort of felt that way when she handed me numerous books on the topic.

Still, despite the fact that such a thing can be viewed as being exceptionally weird, the books she gave me were all interesting reads. This one included. It is educational (even if it is not the kind of topic you would want to teach at school) and an interesting read.

Whilst not my usual I rather enjoyed reading the details of this book.

[hh · Rating 3 out of 5]

good info, enthusiastic writing, lots of details. could have used more editorial work (disorganized). i now need to research the music hall tune "they're moving grandpa's grave to build a sewer."

reread on may 24, 2010 because i somehow picked it up & couldn't remember if i'd read it before or not. then once i was like 3 pages in i realized i had. still entertaining.

[Chris · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting subject, starts off absorbing but gets more dry as it goes. About 1/3 of the way in it largely degenerates into a historical timeline with a few meager bits of human interest. Although the author can appreciate the humor of others, she doesn't display humor in her own writing.

[Bess Lovejoy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Excellent scholarship, but there's a lack of narrative drive.

[Ajay Warner · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love it when my reading overlaps. I was reading "Arthur and George" by Julian Barnes, and his character Arthur muses about death while traveling past Woking. I knew what he was thinking about because I was also reading "Necropolis."

The best part of the book for me is the story of the huge cemetery in Woking - the planning, the train station built especially for funerals from London (60 a day), and its fall into disuse.

Overall, I gave it a 3 because it didn't keep my attention like it should have for someone with a wide streak of morbid curiosity, a deep Anglophilia, and a near-obsession with Victoriana. Still, I'd recommend it for some insights into how London grappled with its cemetery problem - a problem that every large city has had to confront.

[Emily Pallett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm not a huge lover of non-fiction, but a friend gave me this book to read because she knew of my macabre interests. And I must admit I found it extremely interesting and it was definitely up my street. I loved learning about how they buried folk during the plague and I was really keen to read about typical Victorian mourning fashions.
I even felt a little emotional when reading about WW1 and 2 because of my personal connection with the RAF.
Definitely a good read for those with a more 'danse macabre' mind.
The loss of 1 star was purely because non-fiction doesn't always give me a buzz like fiction does.

[Rachey · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slightly disappointing. What started out as a very interesting concept of a book became rather tedious to read. The first half covers about 2000 years of history, and although it was clearly well researched, I felt like it skipped over a lot of important histories and created more questions than it answered. Almost the entire last half was devoted to the Victorian funeral. It felt quite repetitive and dull and, although still well researched, really just focused on architecture and the funeral. Overall, I learnt a great deal but I feel like it was a collection of facts and attempts at following a narrative to tie everything together felt half hearted.

[Mel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I will admit I got bored with this. It was a good popular history, with detailed references that drew on a lot of different sources. However, she seemed to tell stories more than anything there was very little historical analysis or arguments. It was description more than anything and there seemed to be a lack of logic for some of the chapters and digressions within the chapters. Still fairly entertaining, though I think I'd recommend hearing the author speak instead of reading the book.