If you haven’t heard of Loren Rhoads’ fantastic book ‘199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die’, then you’re missing out! Luckily, Loren has released an updated version! Black Dog & Leventhal Publishers kindly sent me a review copy, and I’ve had the best time checking out the new edition! You can purchase the book directly from the publisher by clicking HERE or by asking your local bookshop or wherever you buy books!

Loren Rhoads is an author and editor of numerous fiction and non-fiction books, and is a longtime cemetery history expert and enthusiast. She has served as a cemetery consultant for AAA, The Weather Channel, Mental Floss, and Atlas Obscura among many others, and currently resides in San Francisco, where there are no active cemeteries.

The book is a great guide to visiting cemeteries around the world, with tidbits about the history of the sites and the significant people who are buried there. Each site entry includes the location of the site, and a website about the site if it’s available. It’s such a great way to explore the history of a new place through the people who created it and the artworks they left behind!

The book covers sites primarily in the USA, with 101 sites introduced throughout the pages. There are 7 sites included in Canada, which was very exciting for me as a Canadian archaeologist! The first edition of this book only had 5, and it was great to see that expanded a bit more! The rest of the book is primarily divided up by region: Central and South America and the Caribbean, Europe, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Africa, Asia, and Oceania. While the book clearly skews heavily towards American sites, this makes sense as both the publisher and author are based in the States.

I was really impressed with the breadth of sites that Loren covers throughout the book. For the Canadian sites, Saint Mark’s Churchyard in Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON and the Hunt Family Cemetery on Vancouver Island, BC were new additions. As a Canadian archaeologist and cemetery enthusiast, I was very excited to see this! Saint Mark’s Churchyard is a notable site, the final resting place of William Riley and John Waters, Black residents in the area, as well as the site of large trenches cut through the graveyard during the War of 1812. The Hunt Family Cemetery is located on the land of the Kwakwaka’wakw people of Vancouver Island, who occupied the region long before the arrival of European settlers, and occupied different areas based on the seasons. Their lives were permanently disrupted by the construction of a Hudson Bay fort, Fort Rupert, in 1851. The Europeans brought smallpox to the Indigenous people, and the fort was abandoned only a few decades later in 1882. The cemetery is located near the Kwakiuli Band Longhouse, where much of the art was carved by local Kwakwaka’wakw artist Calvin Hunt and other family members, to commemorate family buried there. I really appreciated Loren’s inclusion of an Indigenous site in the Canadian section, and her thoughtful discussion of the impact of colonialism and residential schools on the community.

Visually, I love the redesign of the new book! The original version was black, with gates opening into a mossy cemetery. Gold filigree decorates the top of the cover, and the exterior edges of each page inside. The new version is brighter, with a stunning southern cemetery with a large tree dripping in Spanish moss covering the entire cover, with a narrow white border around the edge. The filigree is removed from the interior pages, which I think makes the pages less busy. It draws your focus to the photos, I think it was a good choice. I’m of the mind that cemeteries aren’t always morbid or creepy, so I love a book about burial grounds that aren’t dark and gloomy looking.

‘222 Cemeteries to See Before You Die’ ends with the grave of author Robert Louis Stevenson, located in Samoa. The book covers all corners of the globe, introducing the reader to burial practices from numerous different cultures, and is a great introduction to regions you might not have already been familiar with as a burial ground enthusiast. Overall, this updated volume is absolutely wonderful, and would be a great addition to the bookshelves of any taphophiles or history fans in your lift! 10/10!