Every town and small settlement in New Zealand has an old cemetry. Rather than being ignored and left to moulder, the author argues that these are the repositories of family and community histories and should be treasured as part of our heritage from the past. Using many interesting examples, he discusses European and Maori approaches to death and burial at the time the two cultures came into contact and how cemeteries developed after European settlement. This book is for general readers and is profusely illustrated.