The Work of the Dead

The Work of the Dead
Author: Thomas W. Laqueur
Publisher: Princeton University Press
Total Pages: 736
Release: 2018-05-08
Genre: History
ISBN: 0691180938

The meaning of our concern for mortal remains—from antiquity through the twentieth century The Greek philosopher Diogenes said that when he died his body should be tossed over the city walls for beasts to scavenge. Why should he or anyone else care what became of his corpse? In The Work of the Dead, acclaimed cultural historian Thomas Laqueur examines why humanity has universally rejected Diogenes's argument. No culture has been indifferent to mortal remains. Even in our supposedly disenchanted scientific age, the dead body still matters—for individuals, communities, and nations. A remarkably ambitious history, The Work of the Dead offers a compelling and richly detailed account of how and why the living have cared for the dead, from antiquity to the twentieth century. The book draws on a vast range of sources—from mortuary archaeology, medical tracts, letters, songs, poems, and novels to painting and landscapes in order to recover the work that the dead do for the living: making human communities that connect the past and the future. Laqueur shows how the churchyard became the dominant resting place of the dead during the Middle Ages and why the cemetery largely supplanted it during the modern period. He traces how and why since the nineteenth century we have come to gather the names of the dead on great lists and memorials and why being buried without a name has become so disturbing. And finally, he tells how modern cremation, begun as a fantasy of stripping death of its history, ultimately failed—and how even the ashes of the victims of the Holocaust have been preserved in culture. A fascinating chronicle of how we shape the dead and are in turn shaped by them, this is a landmark work of cultural history.

The Life of Voltaire

The Life of Voltaire
Author: abbé Duvernet (Théophile Imarigeon)
Publisher:
Total Pages: 375
Release: 1787
Genre: Authors, French
ISBN:

Candide

Candide
Author: Voltaire Voltaire
Publisher: Xist Publishing
Total Pages: 136
Release: 2016-04-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1681959526

Candide by Voltaire from Coterie Classics All Coterie Classics have been formatted for ereaders and devices and include a bonus link to the free audio book. “Do you believe,' said Candide, 'that men have always massacred each other as they do to-day, that they have always been liars, cheats, traitors, ingrates, brigands, idiots, thieves, scoundrels, gluttons, drunkards, misers, envious, ambitious, bloody-minded, calumniators, debauchees, fanatics, hypocrites, and fools?' Do you believe,' said Martin, 'that hawks have always eaten pigeons when they have found them?” ― Voltaire, Candide Candide is a young man who is raised in wealth to be an optimist but when he is forced to make his own way in the world, his assumptions and outlook are challenged.

A-Cht

A-Cht
Author: Dr. Williams's Library
Publisher:
Total Pages: 1016
Release: 1968
Genre:
ISBN:

Delphi Collected Works of Voltaire (Illustrated)

Delphi Collected Works of Voltaire (Illustrated)
Author: Voltaire
Publisher: Delphi Classics
Total Pages: 8819
Release: 2015-10-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN:

The leading figure of the French Enlightenment, Voltaire was a versatile writer, celebrated for his satirical wit and his advocacy of freedom of religion. Voltaire’s oeuvre features works in almost every literary form, including masterpieces in drama, poetry and fiction, as well as historical and scientific literature. This comprehensive eBook presents the largest collection of Voltaire’s works ever compiled in English translation, with numerous illustrations, rare texts appearing in digital print for the first time, informative introductions and the usual Delphi bonus material. (Version 1) * Beautifully illustrated with images relating to Voltaire’s life and works * Concise introductions to the novels and other texts * ALL the novels, with individual contents tables * Images of how the books were first published, giving your eReader a taste of the original texts * Excellent formatting of the texts * Famous works are fully illustrated with contemporary artwork * Includes Voltaire’s rare epic poems ‘The Henriade’ and ‘The Maid of Orleans’ – available in no other collection * Voltaire’s rare poems * Includes Voltaire’s plays - spend hours exploring the celebrated plays * Includes a comprehensive range of non-fiction texts * Special criticism section, with essays evaluating Voltaire’s contribution to literature * Features three biographies - discover Voltaire’s literary life * Scholarly ordering of texts into chronological order and literary genres Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles CONTENTS: The Philosophical Fiction ZADIG MICROMEGAS CANDIDE; OR, THE OPTIMIST L’INGÉNU THE MAN OF FORTY CROWNS OTHER PHILOSOPHICAL TALES The Plays OEDIPUS MARIAMNE ZAIRE CAESAR THE PRODIGIAL MEROPE OLYMPIA THE ORPHAN OF CHINA BRUTUS MAHOMET AMELIA SOCRATES ALZIRE ORESTES SÉMIRAMIS CATILINE PANDORA THE SCOTCH WOMAN NANINE THE PRUDE THE TATLER PREFACES TO PLAYS The Poetry THE HENRIADE THE MAID OF ORLEANS THE LISBON EARTHQUAKE AND OTHER POEMS The Philosophical Works LETTERS ON ENGLAND PHILOSOPHICAL LETTERS A PHILOSOPHICAL DICTIONARY TOLERATION AND OTHER ESSAYS AN ESSAY ON CRIMES AND PUNISHMENTS The Historical Works AGE OF LOUIS XIV THE HISTORY OF PETER THE GREAT, EMPEROR OF RUSSIA HISTORY OF CHARLES XII The Criticism VOLTAIRE by John Cowper Powys VOLTAIRE’S TRAGEDIES by Lytton Strachey VOLTAIRE AND FREDERICK THE GREAT by Lytton Strachey INGERSOLL’S LECTURE ON VOLTAIRE by Robert Green Ingersoll VOLTAIRE AND KING STANISLAS by Henry W. Wolff VOLTAIRE IN THE NETHERLANDS by C. A. Van Sypesteyn The Biographies VOLTAIRE by John Morley VOLTAIRE: A SKETCH OF HIS LIFE AND WORKS by G. W. Foote and J. M. Wheeler VOLTAIRE: BRIEF BIOGRAPHY by George Saintsbury Please visit www.delphiclassics.com to browse through our range of exciting titles