Customer Reviews

Purified by Fire: A History of Cremation in America

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As a funeral director, and for me personally, cremation is a fascinating subject.
Stephen Prothero's book, "Purified by Fire," takes an interesting and enlightening look at one of the oldest methods of "disposition" in the world. It also explains the origins of the rite of cremation in America in an easily understood language, and removes the "shroud" of mystery of the cremation of the dead.
A fantastic read for any who wonder about death rites - and any who actually wonder about any type of history in the United States.
Prothero has gone the extra mile in gathering information for the reader. He takes the door off the columbarium and crematorium and allows us to take a look inside. He gives us the background: that cremation was brought to the United States by those who were concerned about disease in the dead; then gives us a glimpse into the future: that cremation is gaining popularity, even by those in the major religious denominations.
From "Birth" to "Boom", Prothero unleashes his magic of writing and works it into a magnificent MUST READ that I refer to as "The Cremationist's Bible".

I found the book very repetitious. He kept going back over and over about what people did and thought back in the 1800's Once was enough. He is obviously pro cremation and is more than antagonistic towards Christianity I think and how they relate/think about the subject. People feel the way they feel and they aren't necessarily ignorant or brainwashed by religion because of it. He wants to promote the liberal side of religion and how sensible they are and on and on. He really does go on and on about the same thing. The book could have been much shorter.

By the way, I attended a symposium at Forest Lawn in 2003 where Prothero was a speaker along with others. At the end, questions were directed to the speakers. And someone asked Prothero whether he had children or not to which he answered yes, and it was a child of just a few years. The person asked him that if his child died, would he cremate them. It stumbled Prothero who finally answered that he would NOT.