In recent years there has been an increasing amount of research into the sociology of death and dying. This volume offers an introduction to the full range of theoretical and empirical endeavour, along with a discussion of some key methodological questions. Issues covered include: the concept of social death; the relationship between death and high modernity; death across the life course; cultural and historical perspectives on death and dying; the social management of death; the meaning of ritual; the role of the caring services; and problems of research, method and analysis.