Exploring the multitudinous ways to end human life, Brennan explores the great plagues of history, human destruction caused by war, nature's mass killers, and every other means of expiration as a prelude to discussing what comes next. He draws on ancient texts, science, religion, folklore, literature, dismantling taboo in a quest for meanings.
The cause and attending circumstances of Shakespeare's death in 1616, at age 53, even today remain unknown. This is all the more remarkable because he was almost always surrounded by crowds of people who knew him well and must have been acquainted with the facts of his death: a large group of close relatives ...
