Hugh Meller, Brian Parsons London Cemeteries

Annotation

The cemeteries of Greater London have been a neglected area of the capital's history. They are filled not only with the remains of recent generations but also with a wealth of architectural and social history that is described here in an entertaining and eloquent narrative full of picturesque melancholy. The book is divided into two. Part one records the origins of London's cemeteries and includes introductory chapters on cemetery history, planning, architecture, epitaphs and natural history. Part two is a gazetteer, with descriptions of all the cemeteries in Greater London, together with short biographies of the celebrated people buried in them. There are two indexes, one listing the names of those in the gazetteer and a second naming the architects, landscapers and sculptors whose work is represented in the cemeteries. The text is illustrated throughout with contemporary photographs and a wide range of rarely seen archive images. London Cemeteries is an important source for biographical and genealogical research, and a compendium of material for the architectural historian. Social and local historians will also find much of interest here.