The Book Prize Index

The Work of the Dead: A Cultural History of Mortal Remains

Thomas W. Laqueur

The meaning of our concern for mortal remains―from antiquity through the twentieth century The Greek philosopher Diogenes said that when he died his body should be tossed over the city walls for beasts to scavenge. Why should he or anyone else care what became of his corpse? In The Work of the Dead, acclaimed cultural historian Thomas Laqueur examines why humanity has universally rejected Diogenes's argument. No culture has been indifferent to mortal remains. Even in our supposedly disenchanted scientific age, the dead body still matters―for individuals, communities, and nations. A remarkably ambitious history, The Work of the Dead offers a compelling and richly detailed account of how and why the living have cared for the dead, from antiquity to the twentieth century.

HistoryHistory · medium confidenceHistory81 signalsLlm Classifier: History -> HistoryGoogle Books: Social Science -> Society & CultureAward Category: American History -> American HistoryLiterature & WritersArchives, Museums & Historical MethodDeath, Memory & Commemoration

Award History

4 wins · 4 total

AwardYearResultCategory / Notes
Cundill History PrizeMajor2016WinnerSecondary source
Laura Shannon Prize: European Studies2018WinnerOfficial source
American Historical Association Book Prizes: George L. Mosse Prize in European Intellectual and Cultural History2016WinnerOfficial source
PROSE Award for World History2016WinnerOfficial source
View all award history (4)
Experimental book profileGenerated by GPT-5.4 nano · may contain inaccuracies

This is an unverified interpretation of the catalog description, offered as an opt-in discovery experiment—not as bibliographic fact.

  1. 01 Central figures

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

    These suggestions did not meet the normal display threshold and are more likely to be wrong.

    • Diogenes46%

  2. 02 Central places

    None extracted with sufficient confidence.

  3. 03 Suggested argument

    No culture has been indifferent to mortal remains; humanity universally rejects Diogenes’s idea of discarding the body, and the dead body continues to matter for individuals, communities, and nations even in the “scientific age.”

    Model confidence 62%

  4. 04 Reading orientation

    68 / 100 academic

    Academic

    An estimate of intended readership and scholarly apparatus—not quality or importance.

Confidence percentages are the model's own estimates. Profile confidence: 67%.