Even though it is widely thought the human adventure ends with death, for a select and celebrated few it continued well beyond the grave. Exhuming some fascinating facts from history, this anthology of "necro-biographies" chronicles the bizarre after-death exploits of several prominent corpses, including:
* Joseph Haydn, whose head was fought over for 145 years;
* Cardinal Richelieu, whose mummified face was kept as a family heirloom--in someone else's family!
* Percy Bysshe Shelley, whose wife kept his heart pressed between the pages of his most famous work;
* Oliver Cromwell, whose corpse was dug up so he could be "properly" hanged for treason;
* John Barrymore, whose final performance took place several days after his death;
* and Buffalo Bill Cody, whose casket was covered with cement to discourage grave robbers. From lost ashes to stolen corpses to wandering body parts--this collection of post-mortem exploits provides provocative postscripts to 35 famous lives. B&W photos.