The Seven Ages of Death: 'Every chapter is like a detective story' Telegraph

Description

Forensic pathologist and bestselling author of Unnatural Causes, Dr Richard Shepherd, brings his unparalleled honesty and insight to a new book about life and death. Through 24 intriguing, never-before-told cases, Britain's top forensic pathologist Dr Richard Shepherd takes us on a journey through life in death. From old to young, murder to misadventure, and from illness to accidental death, each body can reveal something- about human development, about mortality, about its owner's life story, and even about Shepherd himself. From the bestselling author of Unnatural Causes comes a powerful, moving and above all reassuring book uncovering the secrets of death - how to understand it, postpone it, and, when our time comes (as it must), how to embrace it as the last great adventure.

Richard Shepherd was born in West London but grew up in Watford. He was introduced to a medical textbook smuggled into the classroom by a friend which opened his eyes to the world of crime and murder, setting him on a lifelong quest to understand death in its many forms. He trained as a doctor at St George's Hospital medical school at Hyde Park Corner, qualifying in 1977 and then completed his postgraduate training as a forensic pathologist in 1987. He immediately joined what was then the elite forensic department at Guy's Hospital. He has been involved nationally and internationally in the forensic investigation of thousands of deaths from unnatural causes, from headline-making murders to mass natural disasters.

This sequel is more ruminative, more meditative . . . Full of sharp observations about what life and death do to the human body * The Times, A BOOK OF THE YEAR * 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 * Each chapter is like a finely crafted detective story in which he expands on the causes of death as revealed by the post mortem, or the hidden reasons that precipitated it. Some are ordinary, others extraordinary. Shepherd writes beautifully, and despite its subject, the book is very funny in parts * Daily Telegraph * Deeply insightful . . . Shepherd is unflinching in his self-dissection * The Times * Fascinating * Daily Express * Fascinating. 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 * Grippingly elegiac yet wonderfully life-affirming, full of pithy observations about the inexorability of death and the marvels of existence -- Felicia Yap, author of Future Perfect * Daily Express * Praise for Dr Richard Shepherd * - * One of the most fascinating books I have read in a long time. Engrossing, a haunting page-turner. A book I could not put down * The Times * Heart-wrenchingly honest Gripping, grimly fascinating, and I suspect I'll read it at least twice * Evening Standard * A deeply mesmerising memoir of forensic pathology. Human and fascinating An absolutely brilliant book. I really recommend it, I don't often say that but it's fascinating Puts the reader at his elbow as he wields the scalpel * The Guardian * Fascinating, insightful, candid, compassionate * Observer * Heart-wrenchingly honest * Mail Online *