After the Funeral: The Posthumous Adventures of Famous Corpses - Murphy, Edwin

After the Funeral: The Posthumous Adventures of Famous Corpses by Murphy, Edwin

Format: Hardcover with Dust Jacket

Published by Barnes & Noble, 1998

It is commonly thought that after death and burial the remains of the individual are left to “rest in peace” - but history reveals that in many instances this has most definitely not been the case. Demonstrating this, “After the Funeral” follows the postmortem exploits of the bodies - or parts of bodies - of thirty-five famous and infamous people. Take, for example, Oliver Cromwell, whose corpse was exhumed by revenge-seeking monarchists several years after his death for a public hanging and beheading; or Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose heart was cherished and kept by his wife, Mary Shelley, in her desk for some thirty-three years after his untimely demise. Then there’s Eva Perón, whose preserved body wound up - after years of surreptitious transport - in Juan Perón’s dining room, where it was kept during evening meals. Even our own Abraham Lincoln was not spared such folly as an attempt to steal his body and hold it for ransom was just the first of several misadventures along the way for the late President. And what to do about Christopher Columbus, parts of whom are buried in four separate locations? Graced with thirty-two illustrations, a bibliography, and an index, “After the Funeral “ picks up where conventional biographies leave off - and probes the bizarre, ghastly, surprising, and at times ridiculous circumstances that befell many of the well-known after they were laid to rest.