Sums up the burgeoning scholarship over the past half century in a number of disciplines. The 18 essays cover facts, testimony, and ritual; Christian eschatology and thanatology; miracles, conversions, and transmutations sub specie aeternitatis ; late Medieval poetry and drama on death; and late Medieval iconography on the art of death. Specific topics include the doctor, Aquinas' dilemma about knowledge after death, and women saints as helpers in dying. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)