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Essential cemeteries bibliography

Plan of Stonefall Cemetery, Harrogate, showing denomination sections

The study of cemeteries constitutes a 'rendezvous' or 'destination' discipline: academics from a range of backgrounds travel towards it carrying their own discipline methods, preoccupations and theory. This subject area encourages a wilful crossing of boundaries, and is intrinsically and fruitfully interdisciplinary.  

The Selected bibliography to 2020 (PDF , 244kb) is selected list of major texts and peer-reviewed journal articles on cemeteries and burial from various disciplines and perspectives, sorted by year of publication and with international coverage. 

The list is by no means exhaustive, but includes works that are by turns essential, informative, intriguing and infuriating. Where two or more chapters are relevant from a collected text, individual chapters are not listed separately.