Overview

A burgeoning body of literature on death and dying is organized into a comprehensive, carefully outlined, annotated list in this volume, which cites more than 2200 books, articles, chapters, monographs, and reports primarily concerned with the counseling and theological aspects of death and dying. Compiled by a member of the clergy involved in hospice care, this bibliography recognizes the wide range of topics that comprise the human experience of death and dying, as it accesses information from the pastoral to the medical, the historical to the topical, and the philosophical to the technical elements of thanatology. This multidisciplinary approach provides helping professionals as well as those involved with mortuary science and the study of thanatology with an extensive guide to specific and general information. Introductory material both reviews the current trend towards specialization in thanatology and the need to preserve a holistic approach towards death and dying, and suggests uses for the sources cited in the pages that follow. The annotated entries are descriptive and critical, and are arranged to introduce the topic historically. They are followed by relevant theological and philosophical issues and conclude with works that address the care of the dying and bereaved. All the sources are fully indexed by author, title, and subject matter.