History is dominated by the A-list deaths – Queens beheaded, Archdukes assassinated. But what about everyone else? How did ordinary people through history prepare for the end, depart this life, grieve their loved ones and imagine what came next?

From the professional death-watchers of the middle ages to the fabulous Victorian funeral garments that kick-started fast fashion, historian and bereavement counsellor Molly Conisbee explores how cycles of dying, death and disposal shaped not just the lives of our ancestors, but their beliefs, politics and societies too.

Richly told, deeply researched, No Ordinary Deaths uses the stories of everyday people – from a condemned criminal to a Welsh folklorist and a grieving daughter in 1880s London – to open a window into the hopes, fears and wishes of our forebears, and in the process, bring death … to life.

‘A beautifully written and thought-provoking journey through the world of death. It addresses our human compulsion to mark the end of life and how that has changed over time. It reminds us that often we are where we are, because of what others have chosen to do before us. Life affirming’ — Professor Lady Sue Black, author of All That Remains: A Life in Death

‘Fascinating … a compelling work of social history, exploring how we died – and how we lived’ — Judith Flanders, author of Rites of Passage: Death and Mourning in Victorian Britain