No event inspires a fuller range of emotions than death. Grief alone takes countless forms, from private tears and simple words to enormous social convulsions and treasury-draining acts of homage. Many cultures, viewing the dead with fear, have devised rites to hasten them on their way and keep them in their place. Other societies have focused on loving remembrance and even active support for those who, presumably, have gone on to the afterlife. And some of the most powerful reactions of all have been those that anticipate death - the years spent preparing for it, the deep-seated ambivalence toward it, the funeral arrangements that allow for the possibility of revival.