As this is a ‘people’s history’, the study has excluded intentionally the monumental death ceremonies of kings and queens, and others holding great offices of state.

The book is organised around 11 themed chapters that follow the stages of preparing and waiting for death, the process of dying, funerals, grief and the afterlife.

Public dissection of those convicted of murder might seem less than ‘ordinary’ but the reasoning is that deaths on the fringes of society are part of the memory of society.

The study is not merely an historical sequence from the late medieval era to the present day, as answers to concerns around death in the past are thought to assist in understanding now.

A surprising number of different areas of knowledge, and probably highly specialist areas of study in themselves, have been covered in this excellent survey.

The author, a social historian, has explained the role of many of those individuals attended on others near to death, and identified the customs associated with the event.

The varying role of religion, pre- and post-Reformation, cannot be ignored and Dr Conisbee provides the reader, perhaps many now without any religion, with helpful explanations.

That is not a peripheral aspect as the older practices associated with the dying were carried out by relatives and those with some experience of what to do and in a religious context.

The move for terminal events into a medical or clinical environment to be dealt with by the appropriate profession has separated the public and nearest relatives from participation.

The author has a focus on England, and perhaps only really the southern parts, although there is a close study of the crucial place of wakes in the society of Wales.

This is not a study directed only at the emotional side of what is inevitable for us all: an explanation is offered of the meaning of the symbols of mourning at its different stages.

The business of death cannot be ignored and there is ample evidence of the demand for, and supply of, black cloth (or perhaps pure white) and various styles of mourning clothes.

The main point to be taken from this impressive summary of a difficult subject for many is probably a subjective one that depends on why a reader has engaged with the book.

No Ordinary Deaths: A People’s History of Mortality by Molly Conisbee. Published by Profile Books, pp. 362, £22.