199 Cemeteries to See Before You Die Hardcover – October 3, 2017

I bought this book as a gift for one of my friends who is obsessed with cemeteries! She loved it! It’s a hardback book with great detail. Worth the money! Great quality!

What a wonderful guide book!

Firstly: way too US/North America centric, half the book, 100 sites, are dedicated to US and Canadian sites. While the European and Asian section does include a few of my favourites it fails to include enough of London's "Magnificent Seven" along with long list of war grave sites for non US combatants, Hong Kong gets short changed with only the former Happy Valley Cemetery (now Hong Kong Cemetery) listed but only the European graves given much ink and a photo. Japan's extensive and fascinating cemeteries get just 4 sites (plus Hiroshima Peace Park) - personally find it strange the omission of a few the two Nenbutsu-Ji sites in Arashiyama, Kyoto - the austere Adashino Nenbutsu-ji with it's 10,000+ statues that stand as a memorial to Kyoto's Heian era dead (at that time local Buddhist funerary traditions were for corpses to be simply abandoned on the slopes around Adashino) and the whimsical Otagi Nenbutsu-Ji where 1200+ rakan statues, hand carved by local amateur artists from Kyoto display Buddhas in all manner of humorous and whimsical manner (Elvis Buddha, Photographer Buddha, Tennis Player Buddha, Pug hugging Buddha etc)Secondly: A lot of the photographs are... well... lets not shy away from the fact... boring... Hong Kong Cemetery is spectacular in its expanse and its placement within a steep terraced hillside, it is like a massive Greek or Roman amphitheatre for the dead surrounded by ultra modern apartment towers of staggering hight, but you'd never guess that from the photo supplied... Okunoin in Kyoasan Japan is extensive, old, and otherworldly ethereal but you'd be hard pressed to see that from the tiny photo. Sadly it looked like the images took a back-row seat which is unfortunate as most of us will only travel vicariously to these places via books like these

There are so many amazing cemeteries around the world that it is truly impossible to narrow them down to just 199 and say they are the "absolute best", but I would consider this a good starter guide for somebody who has an interest in exploring more cemeteries.The biggest drawback about the book is that the largest chunk of the book is dedicated to American cemeteries. There's nothing particularly wrong with that, I suppose, but American history only reaches back so far, and there are certainly some very amazing non-American cemeteries that could not make it into a volume like this as a result. So, much like a book such as "1,001 Places to See Before You Die", it should not be taken as the literal be-all/do-all bucket list of cemeteries, but it's certainly an interesting collection of cemeteries from around the globe.Additionally, I would have liked much more and better photography, plus maps, especially for some of the much more picturesque cemeteries mentioned in the book. I don't think that most people would understand that some of the most picturesque cemeteries started out as the forerunners to public parks; they were a place where people would go for walks, even enjoy picnics.If you simply see a picture of a single (or a few) famous headstones, you can't understand the Gothic appeal of a cemetery like Père Lachaise. You can't imagine the tight rows of New Orleans' Cemetery No. 1 or the intense heat of being in that cemetery, sweltering under a hot summer sky. You can't picture the dreamy ideal of Rome's Non-Catholic cemetery or London's Highgate; you can't see the abundant landscaping of Los Angeles' many huge cemeteries, or understand the scope of Colma, California's (truly the "City of the Dead") many cemeteries; or grasp how small LA's Pierce Brothers Westwood Village Memorial Park (which is absolutely studded with dead celebrities) is.However, for those with an interest in cemetery tourism/tombstone tourism (for lack of a better term), this is a good starter book to give you ideas about where to go, and what famous people you might find there.

I have been interested in cemeteries and photographing them for years. They tell so many stories and it's important to never forgot those laid to rest there. That being said, this books is a gorgeous homage to cemeteries all over the world, with photos and details on the landscape and famous graves included. Good for reference or even as a coffee table book.

Very nice book a look at a part of life we don't think about .Very nice photos

Had this on my wish list for a long time and finally decided to buy it. The photographs inside are beautiful. I love that it tries to include almost every area of the world and divides it into easy-to-find sections (if you’re planning a specific destination). Makes a great coffee table book too. Really excited to use it in my future travel plans.

This book arrived early from the seller, bubble wrapped with care and love as though it was a precious gem... which it is!!!Beautiful pictures, most in color. A perfect coffee table book because the cemeteries are divided into locations so anyone can pick it up and easily find ones that they have already been to, or hope to get to.I love the way it looks on my coffee table and I love the way it portrays these cemeteries as beautiful sanctuaries, while maintaining that slightly creepy feel anyone who loves a graveyard craves ;)

This is an excellent book that acts as a good introduction to the world's cemeteries and should be of use to those who are already familiar with them, and to those who have just started to visit them and discover their fascination. Each cemetery has a useful description and is illustrated by some beautiful photographs.Unfortunately, the title is somewhat misleading (my reason for 4 stars and not 5). Cemeteries are not graveyards. Graveyards are attached to a church, but cemeteries have no such attachment and can belong to any religion. Loren Rhoads fails to make this distinction. As she says in her introduction, she is looking at burial places and, therefore, 'cemeteries' is misleading - but '199 Burial Places To See Before You Die' is probably not such an appealing title as '199 Cemeteries'! In her one page intro, she explains why anyone would (and should) want to visit a cemetery (she uses 'graveyard' here!). She does a good job in attempting to cover the world but as she is American, she has 95 US cemeteries/graveyards and includes several at the expense of more interesting examples in other parts of the world. Her inclusion of non-cemeteries also restricts her coverage. I do not think anyone in Britain would consider Westminster Abbey as a cemetery! She also includes some ancient sites.Any book on 199 places to visit, films to see, music to listen to, etc., will fail to include some that people feel are the best. Rhoads covers Egypt but does not mention the City of the Dead in Cairo - surely one of the top ten cemeteries in the world (and it really is a cemetery!). She also fails to include the tombs of Saqqara and the Tombs of the Nobles in Luxor (far more interesting than the royal tombs). In London, Highgate is selected but not Kensal Green, which seems odd. There are other notable omissions but, as she says at the start, her book "is by no means the final word".She wants the reader to use her book " as a jumping-off place to learning more". It is annoying, therefore, that there is no bibliography. There are many books on cemeteries and related topics. In his Death and Architecture, James Stevens Curl has a 23 page bibliography! This, of course, is not required here but there are several books on cemeteries in specific countries, and cities (London, Paris, Rome, New York) which could have been included in a short bibliography and would have been useful to those who wish to take their journey further. There are also many books on cemeteries, burial customs, funerals, which will introduce the novice to this wonderful area of study. Search Amazon for these. But having said this, Loren Rhoads has produced a fine book which I urge you to buy.

While this book is informative and nicely done, it is heavily USA - centric - 95 out of the 199 are USA based. Its just a pity that the entire rest of the world is condensed into the other half when there are so many incredible places to visit, The entire African Continent is reduced to 6 entries. None the less, interesting to page through.

This was a great present and very well received - there's even a fascinating little section about the Titanic.

ok

It's ok but i prefer glossy paper and bigger pictures.