Necropolis: London and Its Dead

I first came across Arnold's Necropolis while conducting research for a graduate paper on Chaucer's treatment of corpses in The Canterbury Tales in 2007. At first glance the book seemed intriguing and promising, and I ended up using some of Arnold's early descriptions to help establish the evolution of British corpse-treatment before Chaucer's time. However, I did not get a chance to read the entire book until now. Necropolis: London and Its Dead is entertaining, and will surely keep the interest of literary and cemetery enthusiasts alike. Far from a scholarly text, Arnold's collective history seems to be aimed at a larger public, and she does her best to assume very little of her audience. However, this seems to lead to a tendency to ramble and go off on tangents; several times in a single chapter Arnold will stray away from the subject at hand (funeral practices, establishing cemeteries, etc) in order to elaborate on the details of an individual's life. Sometimes this information can be very interesting, and at others I found myself wondering why the identity of someone's teenage lover is important to the context of their burial, when Arnold herself makes no attempt to connect the two subjects. Such wandering thoughts are what keep Necropolis from being "excellent", and ground her in the realm of popular reading as opposed to academic publishing. That all being said, Necropolis is a fascinating read, and one that gives the reader not only interesting tidbits to take away, but a sense of life and cultural throughout the development of London society.

I found this to be a really interesting book. Not knowing much about London cemeteries, I came away from this book feeling much more informed about them. Not only did I learn about the cemeteries and funeral customs, I also learn some new history I was previously unware of. I think the author did a very thorough job in her research and the book itself is well written. I enjoyed it very much and would recommend this book to anyone not only interested in cemeteries, but in the history of London. Would have liked some photographs, but I don't feel the lack thereof in anyway detracts from this book.