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Synopsis
The second volume in a three-part series, The Curse of Self-Murder explores the origins of the condemnation of suicide and provides a unique perspective on medieval culture and religion.
Internet Book Watch
In Suicide In The Middle Ages: The Curse On Self-Murder, Alexander Murray (Fellow and Praelector in Modern History, University College, Oxford) explores the origin of the condemnation of suicide in medieval Europe. This historical, 620-page, exhaustive survey (the second in a planned trilogy) explores medieval theology, law, mythology, and folklore regarding suicide. During an era when brutality, hardship, widespread disease, and superstition would offer a plentitude of reasons for not wanting to go on living, the ways the culture and community utilized to block the suicidal escape from such factors provides the history student with a unique and informative perspective on medieval religion. Also highly recommended for medieval studies collections and reading lists is Alexander Murray's Suicide In The Middle Ages: The Violent Against Themselves (0-19820-539-2, $49.95).