Modern Mummies: The Preservation of the Human Body in the Twentieth Century
Average Rating: out of 1 Reviews
Manufacturer: McFarland & Company
EAN (European Article Number): 9780786404926
Number of Items: 1
Binding: Hardcover
Author: Christine Quigley
Publisher: McFarland & Company
Dewey Decimal Number: 393.3
Publication Date: 1998-04
Reading Level: 263
Description: For many, a mummy is an Egyptian pharaoh, wrapped in cloth, found thousands of years later in a pyramid by archaeologists. But mummies need not be ancient. Modern-day mummies can be found under glass in special tombs built in their honor, in private collections where they have come to rest after decades on the carnival circuit, in dissecting rooms of medical schools, and in the basements of funeral homes waiting for decades to be claimed by the next of kin. Stories about the famous (Vladimir Ilyich Lenin, Ho Chi Minh, Eva Peron) and the not-so-famous (Leslie Hansell wanted her body mummified to bask in the sun rather than being buried in the cold ground) mummies are told here in great detail, along with a broader look at the history and process of mummification. The book includes a comprehensive study of the successful prolonged preservation of the human body, and delves into the law and science of modern mummification.
Customer Reviews
Review Summary: Only book of its kind
Date: 1999-04-02
Details: I read this book while researching a film about mummies. It is, to my knowledge, the only book of its kind. Most think of mummies as belonging exclusively to the ancients--Egyptian, Peruvian, and otherwise--but this book illuminates a continuing need to deny the reality of "dust to dust" in our modern age. Passages on the secular communist icons that have undergone permanent emblaming (Mao, Lenin) and on Summum Corp., a contemporary mummification facility, are very interesting. Highly recommended.
out of 1 Reviews
