We're all going to die: but the ways in which we approach, avoid and attempt to subvert mortality are particular to time and place. Exactly how we do so, and how we relate to the dead, reveals our most treasured values and profound hopes and fears in life.

Following a PhD on Victorian funeral customs from the University of Leeds in 2009, I'm now an internationally recognised expert on the history and folklore of death, dying and funerals. My most recent publication is the Shire Library book 'Traditions of Death and Burial' (Bloomsbury, 2019) - it's the history of death, dying and funerals since the Middle Ages that I've always wanted to write. Previously I've appeared on the History Channel discussing Victorian funerals with Johnny Vaughan, and on BBC radio talking about sin-eating and other historic funeral customs.

Based on my own original research, my sympathetic, scholarly yet gently humorous talks about funeral customs past, present and future will get your group thinking and talking about how exactly do we deal with this inevitable fact of life.