Graveyards: A History of Living with the Dead

by Roger Luckhurst

From the author of Gothic, a marvelously illustrated cultural history of graves and graveyards, from the earliest known burial sites to today’s green burials

Why, how, and where do we inter our dead? How have people throughout history responded to the problem of laying their dead to rest? Roger Luckhurst sets out in search of answers in this arresting book. Taking readers on an unforgettable tour of the rich and unusual visual culture of the grave, he visits locales such as the pyramids of Giza, the catacombs and columbaria of Rome, and the cenotaphs erected to the world’s war dead. Along the way, he examines the diverse role of graveyards in literature, art, film, and television.

In engaging chapters that look at all aspects of the treatment of the dead, Luckhurst covers topics ranging from early burials and the emergence of necropolises and catacombs to grave robbing, garden cemeteries, the perilous overcrowding of the urban dead, and the emergence of modern funerary culture. Exploring the cultural afterlives of burial and memorial sites in the popular imagination, he shows how graves have served as guides to the underworld, poignant dedications to those we have lost, as reminders of our own mortality, and settings in gothic horror.

Blending lively storytelling with a wealth of stunning illustrations, Graveyards is a lyrical, frequently unexpected account of the grave as a signpost to the afterlife, a site of remembrance and self-reflection, and an object of enduring fascination.

Genres: Nonfiction, History, Anthropology

256 pages, Hardcover

Published October 21, 2025

About the author

Roger Luckhurst is a British writer and academic. He is Professor in Modern and Contemporary Literature in the Department of English and Humanities at Birkbeck, University of London and was Distinguished Visiting Professor at Columbia University in 2016. He works on Victorian literature, contemporary literature, Gothic and weird fiction, trauma studies, and speculative/science fiction.

Reviews

[Caroline · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a little more historical/academic than I was hoping (I wanted something more focused on the macabre!), but it was well researched and gorgeously designed

[Tim Adams · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a beautifully presented and well written exploration of the history and traditions of human burial, from prehistory through to modernity. The book isn’t just a simple history, it also goes into the culture of death and burial over the ages, as well as a comparison of the traditions of the abrahammic religions, as well as Buddhism and Hinduism.

The level of detail is excellent for a coffee table-type book - not as much detail as a genuine reference book, but more than enough for an intriguing read.

[Gemma · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book itself is gorgeous! Beautiful inside and out. Really enjoyed learning about different cultural practices and the evolving nature of how people use, think and feel about graveyards. A treasure of a book.