Review: America’s graveyards reveal surprises, segregation
"Over My Dead Body: Unearthing the Hidden History of America’s Cemeteries,” by Greg Melville
It turns out that America’s graveyards are much more than keepers of our bodily remains until the organisms within the soil reclaim everything. Cemeteries tell us about our beliefs, principles, economics and cultural values, says Greg Melville in this fascinating examination of how we treat, and mistreat, our dead.
Given the topic, Melville moves briskly and with a keen eye for connections, trends and the absurd.
He notes, for example that post World War II layouts of suburbs were inspired by the simplicity of design that began decades earlier in cemeteries.