One of the most impressive facts about death today is how much and in how many different ways various aspects of death and dying are undergoing dramatic changes. Edwin Shneidman has compiled this volume to give the reader a broad-ranging view of current trends in thanatology. The result is a remarkable compendium of pertinent insights upon which to build an understanding of death in our time - death as it relates to our comprehension of ourselves and our fellow beings. Edwin S. Shneidman, Ph. D., was Professor of Thanatology (the study of death and its surrounding circumstances, as in forensic medicine) and Director of the Laboratory for the Study of Life-Threatening Behavior at the University of California at Los Angeles.