The Seven Ages of Death

The heart-wrenchingly honest and fascinating new book from forensic pathologist and bestselling author of UNNATURAL CAUSES, Dr Richard Shepherd<BR><BR>A TIMES AND SUNDAY TIMES BOOK OF THE YEAR<BR><BR>'Each chapter is like a finely-crafted detective story . . . Shepherd writes beautifully, and despite its subject, the book is very funny in parts' DAILY TELEGRAPH<BR><BR>'Enlightening, strangely uplifting . . . Shepherd's final chapter on death itself is a meditation of great beauty and light which puts all the darkness of the previous pages into perspective' DAILY MAIL<BR><BR>'Deeply insightful. Unflinching' THE TIMES<BR>'Fascinating' DAILY EXPRESS<BR><BR>'This book is about death, but in it I will take readers on a journey through life . . .'<BR>_________<BR><BR>Dr Richard Shepherd, Britain's top forensic pathologist, has spent a lifetime close to the dead.<BR><BR>As a medical detective, each autopsy he carries out is its own unique investigation, uncovering the secrets not only of how a person died, but also of how they lived.<BR><BR>Through twenty-four of his most intriguing, enlightening and never-before-told cases, Dr Shepherd shares autopsies that span the seven ages of human existence, and have taught him as much about the marvels of life as the inevitability of death.<BR><BR>From old to young, from murder to misadventure, and from illness to accidental death, each of these bodies has something to reveal: about human development, about mortality, about its owner's life story, about justice and even about Shepherd himself.<BR><BR>From the bestselling author of Unnatural Causes comes a powerful, moving and above all reassuring book about death as it touches our own lives - how to understand it, and, when our time comes (as it must), how to embrace it as the last great adventure.<BR>_________<BR><BR>'He has the ability to examine himself and other people with the same forensic eye that he applies to corpses - one of the reasons why his books feel so life-enhancing' Daily Telegraph<BR><BR>Praise for Dr Richard Shepherd<BR><BR>'Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice' Evening Standard<BR><BR>'A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating' Nigella Lawson<BR><BR>'An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating' Jeremy Vine, BBC Radio 2<BR><BR>'Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel' Guardian<BR><BR>'Fascinating, gruesome yet engrossing' Richard and Judy, Daily Express<BR><BR>'Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate' Observer