Great Burial Places explores twenty-two of the world’s great burial precincts, from dynastic necropolises such as the Valley of the Kings and the Ming Tombs to cemeteries such as Père Lachaise in Paris and the Zentralfriedhof in Vienna where the most famous people of their age share a last resting place with tens of thousands of their undistinguished fellow citizens.

Today, a surprising number of people engage in tombstone tourism, as it is sometimes dismissively termed. Who goes to London without visiting Westminster Abbey, or to Paris without visiting Père Lachaise, or to Rome without visiting St. Peter’s Basilica? There is something irresistible about visiting the last resting places of the famous, about standing in the presence of genius, about making contact, albeit indirect, with those who have left their mark on the world.

Great Burial Places will prove a delight to taphophiles as well as to general readers of enquiring mind who wish to explore some of the world’s greatest architectural and cultural sites from a fresh perspective.