Facing the ‘King of Terrors’: Death and Society in an American Community, 1750-1990

Death, a topic often neglected by historians, is in this book given the attention it deserves as one of the most important aspects of personal and societal experience. Facing the King of Terrors examines changes in the roles and perceptions of death in one American community, Schenectady, New York, from 1750 to 1990. It combines an in-depth look at patterns of death in society as a whole with an investigation of personal responses to such cultural customs.