Written In Bone
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  • Published: 3 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9781473582439
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download

Written In Bone

Formats & editions
Paperback
17 May 2022
EBook
3 Sep 2020
Audiobook
3 Sep 2020
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From the author of the critically acclaimed, Sunday Times bestseller, All That Remains, an exploration - from skull to feet - of the secrets hidden in our bones.

Brought to you by Penguin.

Our bones are the silent witnesses to the lives we lead. Our stories are marbled into their marrow.

Drawing upon her years of research and a wealth of remarkable experience, the world-renowned forensic anthropologist Dame Sue Black takes us on a journey of revelation. From skull to feet, via the face, spine, chest, arms, hands, pelvis and legs, she shows that each part of us has a tale to tell. What we eat, where we go, everything we do leaves a trace, a message that waits patiently for months, years, sometimes centuries, until a forensic anthropologist is called upon to decipher it.

Some of this information is easily understood, some holds its secrets tight and needs scientific cajoling to be released. But by carefully piecing together the evidence, the facts of a life can be rebuilt. Limb by limb, case by case – some criminal, some historical, some unaccountably bizarre – Dame Sue Black reconstructs with intimate sensitivity and compassion the hidden stories in what we leave behind.

© Sue Black 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
  • Published: 3 September 2020
  • ISBN: 9781473582439
  • Imprint: Transworld Digital
  • Format: Audio Download
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About the author

Sue Black

Professor Dame Sue Black is one of the world’s leading anatomists and forensic anthropologists. She is also the Pro-Vice Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University. She was the lead anthropologist for the British Forensic Team's work in the war crimes investigations in Kosovo, and she was one of the first forensic scientists to travel to Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami to provide assistance in identifying the dead. Sue is a familiar face in the media, where documentaries have been filmed about her work, and she led the highly successful BBC 2 series History Cold Case.

Sue was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire in the 2016 Queen’s Birthday Honours for services to forensic anthropology.

She is the author of the critically acclaimed Sunday Times bestseller All That Remains.

Also by Sue Black

All That Remains
Saving Bletchley Park
See all

Praise for Written In Bone

For someone who deals in death every day, Sue Black has a rare ability to make blood and bones come alive. A marvellous writer.

Ruth Davidson SMP

A fascinating overview of the human skeleton from the forensic anthropologist's point of view, with case studies that are both pertinent and entertaining.

Kathy Reichs, author of the Temperance Brennan, Bones series

Gripping from the start, Written in Bone is superb - fascinating in its detail of real life cases and written with a narrative that propels you forward to the next page.

Dr Richard Shepherd, author of Unnatural Causes

The corpse whisperer ... could Black's life be any more ready for a series producer to pitch to Netflix? ... and is it OK for her, or us, to enjoy this quite so much?

Helen Rumbelow, The Times

[Sue Black's] stunning new book...is full of gripping case studies..and full of dry humour

The Independent

Black writes with rare precision and compassion

Evening Standard

A fascinating if grisly book. It should be read.

Stuart Kelly, Scotland on Sunday

Her stories invite us to imagine the worst that can happen to us, or those we love. But I was also reminded of a pathologist who, on completing her autopsies, would pull off her gloves with a snap and announce: 'Isn't it good to be alive.' There's redemption here, too, and justice; there's humanitarianism and compassion.

Gavin Francis, LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS