Silent Cities: the Evolution of the American Cemetery

by Kenneth T. Jackson, Camilo Jose Vergara (Photographer)

Urban historian Kenneth Jackson (The Encyclopedia of New York) and photographer Camilo Vergara collaborate to present a fascinating and beautiful examination of the American cemetery.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

129 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1989

Reviews

[Loren · Rating 3 out of 5]

This reference book (so-called because the photos are reproduced too small to be enjoyed without a magnifying glass) is chock-full of fascinating cemetery minutiae. Spanning from the first churchyard burials in America to the modern rise in cremation, exploring the differences in tomb decoration in various ethnic burial grounds, defining architectural movements, and studying reflections of American culture in grave monuments: the book rushes through a breathless amount of material. Four to seven crisp full-color photographs crowd each page. If you are curious about understanding what you see as you wander the local boneyard, this encyclopedia will get you started.

This review originally appeared on Gothic.Net.

[Gato Negro · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just the best book ever about cemeteries.
Own it.
Love it.

[Kaitlyn · Rating 5 out of 5]

So, I'm not going to admit to knowing a ton about cemeteries, but my senior thesis just might have something to do with cemeteries and gravemarkers...or a lot to do with them. Anyway, I've spent the last several weeks reading all kinds of things on cemeteries and gravemarkers for it and I wish I had read this book first! It's such a great book for anyone looking for a good intro to cemeteries! It's divided into a bunch of great little sections--making it easy to read up on just certain particular things, or the entire book (like I did). There are things I have been reading about now in several other texts that I have just sort of figured out from impressions those other things have given me--but many of those things were actually spelled out in this book! And great little history/background on lots of things--not just what a garden cemetery is, but how/where/who started it. I'm rambling, but point is, if you're at all interested in cemeteries--whether from a historical context, folklore, etc. standpoint--read this book and read it first!!

[Liz Clappin · Rating 2 out of 5]

This wasn't a short book, but it felt very brief. I understand that the authors seek to give just a snapshot of the issues related to the 'modern' cemetery (circa 1989 at least) but I find that just when I began to be pulled in the topic abruptly ended. I think that even a page or two more on each topic would have been sufficient to satisfy that interest. The other issue I had, and this is an issue with any book, is that the authors seemed particularly biased in favor of certain cemeteries that interested them, and in every common section they were the only ones used for examples. Given the sheer number of places and varieties that the authors claim to have visited in researching this book, I would have like to see a little bit more variety. That being said, as someone who has done quite a bit of reading on the subject there were a number of things covered that were completely new to me, which was a nice surprise.