Publications
The Natural Death Centre relies on donations and sales of its publications to be able to continue its work. If the Natural Death Centre has helped you or your family or friends, please do make a secure online credit card DONATION.
TO ORDER BOOKS AND FOR FURTHER DETAILS. [Orders are processed for us by the Global Ideas Bank.] IF YOU EXPERIENCE ANY ONLINE ORDERING PROBLEMS PLEASE TRY CLICKING HERE, OR TELEPHONE 0871 288 2098.
Publications available from the Centre include:
THE NATURAL DEATH HANDBOOK is the Centre's main book. It covers:
and illustrates with a map, the 200 plus NATURAL BURIAL GROUNDS in the UK; inexpensive mailorder biodegradable and regular coffins (bamboo, cardboard, willow, etc); how to organise a funeral with or without a funeral director; recommended funeral directors, cemeteries and crematoria; the best funeral shops and suppliers of funeral goods; the text of an Advance Funeral Wishes Form and Advance Healthcare Directive (for the printed forms, click here); the law and practicalities surrounding burial on private land; caring for someone dying at home; financial and other preparations for one's own death; writing a Will; probate; bereavement resources; celebrants and officiants, etc.
The 382-page 4th edition of The Natural Death Handbook (pub. Nov 03) may be ordered online or over the phone by secure credit card order (£15-50 incl. UK 1st class p&p) or by cheque for £14.99 made payable to NDC. We endeavour to post all orders on the day of receipt.
The advantages of buying the book from the Centre are: that you will get the latest update sheets and an Advance Funeral Wishes form free of charge – also your support will go directly to the NDC, which is a project of the charity The Nicholas Albery Foundation (charity no. 1091396). Read the reviews.
'A fascinating read' - Sunday Times
'Demonstrates to people dissatisfied with conveyor-belt funerals that there are kinder alternatives' - The Times
'Gives excellent advice' - Cosmopolitan
'Inspiring' - Church Times
'I'd advise anyone to get hold of a copy of The Natural Death Handbook, altogether a very good thing' - Green Magazine
An Advance healthcare directive or living will
This is concept recognised by the British Medical Association and specifying how much medical intervention one would want in particular circumstances if terminally ill. Plus a Death Plan and ADVANCE FUNERAL WISHES form. This set of forms available from The Natural Death Centre for a minimum donation of £7 by cheque or credit card per set (order securely online). Also available as an emailable PDF for only £5.
The Natural Death Centre's newsletter, NEWS & VIEWS – Autumn/Winter 2004/5, complements 'The Natural Death Handbook' with news and articles. It features: Advance Directives and the Mental Capacity Bill, making a Will, the grave reuse debate, time for crematoria to come clean, book reviews, letters, obituaries, events, and more. A 16-page newsletter now only available as a PDF (£1). Order online by secure credit card order.
The Centre's most recent annual, AFTER LIFE – Reports from the frontline of death, complements 'The Natural Death Handbook' and includes: death on the curriculum; the right to die at home; an argument against legalising voluntary euthanasia; living with cancer; sacred dying; the end of the death taboo?; how to survive bereavement; the Invisible Community; poetry; letters, and more. A PDF version can be ordered online by secure credit card order or by cheque to NDC (£3; don't forget to include your email address). 100 pages.
The 2001 annual PROGRESSIVE ENDINGS – Changing attitudes to death, dying and funerals includes accounts of woodland burials; the euthanasia debate; bereavement; befriending; DIY coffins; and much much more. It is now available only by e-mail as a PDF (£3 by secure credit card order).
The Centre's year 2000 book WAYS TO GO – Naturally is for all those interested in the woodland burial movement (it responds to critics) and in the wider natural death movement; plus funeral ideas and approaches from other cultures; the history of death; opium dreams and Near-Death Experiences; and much more. It is now available only by e-mail as a PDF (£3 by secure credit card order).
* The above three booklets AFTER LIFE, PROGRESSIVE ENDINGS, and WAYS TO GO (PDF versions, so a valid email address is required) for only £8!
COLDER THAN HERE, the well-reviewed play by Laura Wade, was inspired by the Centre's own 'Natural Death Handbook'. It is the story of a dying woman, her family, and her exploration of alternative funeral options.
The play has been described by the Times as a "deft exploration of family dynamics", in a review which labelled Laura Wade as a "playwright on the rise"; by The Guardian as "warm and touching"; and by the Sunday Times as "a 90-minute masterpiece, a jewel, dark but translucent".
The play may be ordered online by secure credit card order or by cheque to NDC (£8 incl. UK p&p).
DO NOT GO GENTLE, edited by Neil Astley, is a collection of poems for funerals, suitable for all faiths and religions. This book includes classic verses of grief and consolation by Donne, Rossetti, Bronte, and Dickinson, but also poems by Rumi, Mary Oliver, Auden, Larkin and Carlos Williams.
Whether you are looking for readings and poems, or just for words of consolation, this book will prove a godsend, and an excellent companion through difficult times
The anthology may be ordered online by secure credit card order or by cheque to NDC (£7 incl. UK p&p).
The Centre's 1999 book (jointly published with the Befriending Network) is entitled LAST AID MANUAL. It is now available online here. To quote from the cover: "Every family should have a First Aid Manual in case of emergencies which may or may not occur. Likewise, every family should have a Last Aid Manual, for death and dying are emergencies that will definitely occur."
The Centre's 1998 book (now available only online) with recent ideas and developments concerning death and dying is entitled NATURAL DEATH – People's tips and ideas.
The Centre's 1997 book concerning death and dying is published online here SOONER OR LATER. The printed version is no longer available.
The Centre's 1996 book CREATIVE ENDINGS – Designer dying & celebratory funerals is now only available online. It contains, inter alia, social innovations to do with death, dying and funerals, plus fasting to a 'comfortable death'; dozen ways to improve funerals; what does someone dying need?; the good death; co-meditation; the Dead Citizens' Charter; a Celebration Box for funerals and memorial services; 'virtual' immortality; and other award winning ideas.
BEFORE & AFTER– A book of ideas, published in 1995, for improving the quality of dying and for inexpensive, Green, DIY funerals. Only available online.
GREEN BURIAL, by John Bradfield, covered the law and practice relating to burial on private land. This book is now out of print, with no plans for a further edition. Its main findings concerning the law and recommendations on private land burial are incorporated in The Natural Death Handbook. The Natural Death Centre acknowledges all the pioneering work and research of John Bradfield on the subject.
We have a few copies of Dr Julian Litten's THE ENGLISH WAY OF DEATH – The common funeral since 1450, left in stock from the 2004 Day of the Dead event. If you would like to purchase a copy for the special price of £20 incl. p&p, please send us a cheque made payable to NDC, or click here. "A revelatory history of the rituals and practices that were once a highly visible part of English life. Beautifully written" (The Observer).
The Natural Death Centre is a sister project of the Global Ideas Bank. Both are projects of The Nicholas Albery Foundation, registered charity no. 1091396.
