The Encyclopedia of Preserved People: Pickled, Frozen, and Mummified Corpses from Around the World

Prior, Natalie Jane

ISBN 10: 0375922873 ISBN 13: 9780375922879

Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers, 2003

Synopsis

Preserved people can tell us things that skeletons can't-hairstyles and tattoos can tell us what people looked like, full stomachs can tell us what thev ate, and autopsies can reveal what diseases they suffered.

With sections on Egyptian mummies, bog bodies, Einstein's brain, and the Ice Man, The Encyclopedia of Preserved People provides a fascinating look at those men, women, and children whose bodies have been preserved until the present day. It proves that history is not about dull dates, but about people who laughed, cried, ate, and worked, just like us-yet who were also incredibly different. It includes an index and a bibliography and is illustrated by over 30 full-color photographs.

About this title

About the Author

Natalie Jane Prior has published several award-winning books for young readers in Australia including fiction, nonfiction, and picture books. Before dedicating herself fulltime to writing, she was a librarian.

From School Library Journal

Grade 5-8-This compendium is organized geographically and arranged alphabetically. The catalog of the macabre includes Africa (ancient Egyptians); Australasia, Asia, and the Pacific (e.g., Lady Dai and George Mallory); Europe (such as Iron Age bog bodies and Lenin); North America (Einstein's brain and the ill-fated Franklin expedition); and South America (Juanita the Ice Lady and Eva Peron). A final chapter lists techniques (such as DNA testing), tools (CAT scans), and topics (ancient diseases). A number of see-also references appear throughout. Small black-and-white and full-color photos, period engravings, and modern watercolors provide a measure of "ickiness" that should satisfy modestly demanding ghouls. The text is conversational in tone, and gleefully chatty when exploring such juicy topics as "Exploding Kings and Queens," but most entries are quite short. The endpapers provide global location maps for the corpses. Strangely missing from the list for further reading are such eloquent gems as James M. Deem's Bodies from the Bog (Houghton, 1998), Johan Reinhard's Discovering the Inca Ice Maiden (National Geographic, 1998), Christopher Sloan's Bury the Dead (National Geographic, 2002), and Donna M. Jackson's The Bone Detectives (Little, Brown, 1996). An attention-grabbing and browsable read.
Patricia Manning, formerly at Eastchester Public Library, NY
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Crown Books for Young Readers
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 0375922873
• ISBN 13: 9780375922879
• Binding: Library Binding
• Language: English
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 64