Sue Black

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hidden stories in what we leave behind

Written In Bone

All That Remains

One might expect [this book] to be a grim read but it absolutely isn’t. I found it invigorating!

Black’s utterly gripping account of her life and career as a professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology manages to be surprisingly life-affirming. As she herself says, it is “as much about life as about death”.

An engrossing memoir ...  an affecting mix of the personal and professional.

A model of how to write about the effect of human evil without losing either objectivity or sensitivity ... Heartening and anything but morbid... Leaves you thinking about what kind of human qualities you value, what kinds of people you actually want to be with.

For someone whose job is identifying corpses, Sue Black is a cheerful soul ... All That Remains feels like every episode of Silent Witness, pre-fictionalized. Except, you know, really good.

This fascinating look by a world-leading forensic scientist at what the dead can tell us is a real eye-opener... Sue Black must be one of the most unusual people in Britain… extraordinary…part meditation, part popular science and part memoir...the book offers a close-up and startlingly clear view of a subject that makes most of us look away.

The real thing here is not the cause of death, but the nature of the life. Black is genuinely moving about the respect we should have for the dead … There is much to admire in this book.

Poignant and thoughtprovoking… it is the book’s humanity which will connect with readers.

Let [Sue Black] take you by the hand and lead you on a journey which will inspire your awe and devotion … A wonderful surprise of a book.

Most of us are terrified of death, but Sue Black shows us that death is in fact a wondrous process, intimately tied with life itself. Written with warmth and humanity, All That Remains reveals her life among the dead, who can surely count her as their best friend.

Many crime readers delight in the disgusting, the dark and the dangerous.  Black’s reverence for human remains and her fearless intimacy with death in its many guises may well be a necessary antidote.

Sue Black has been intimately involved with the aftermath of death for her whole professional career and in her book she weaves in details of her amazing and active life with her analysis of death in a narrative that is personal, touching, occasionally tragic but also instilled with her wonderful sense of humour.

Dr Richard Shepherd, Consultant Forensic Pathologist

Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense, with impeccable science lucidly explained, and with moral depths humanely navigated, so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow.  I am genuinely glad I read this book.

Compelling, brave and extremely accessible.. A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.

No scientist communicates better than Professor Sue Black. All That Remains is a unique blend of memoir and monograph that admits us into the remarkable world of forensic anthropology.

Val McDermid, award-winning author of THE MERMAIDS SINGING

Where on earth would the world be without Sue Black?

Editor's Choice: An enthralling book about forensic science and the many faces of death.

Professor Black’s elegant exploration of death crafts a bridge that allows us, the living, to journey into her mesmerizing world. Her intimate examination of each layer and facet of death, is both intelligent and tender. Through her unflinching eye, we come to understand that life and death are indeed two parts of a continuous whole and that there is much insight to be gained if we approach each of these with curiosity rather than fear.

All That Remains provides a fascinating look at death - its causes, our attitudes toward it, the forensic scientist's way of analyzing it. A unique and thoroughly engaging book.

Kathy Reichs, author of TWO NIGHTS and the Temperance Brennan series

If you ever wondered about the life of a forensic anthropologist, Sue Black reveals the truth behind the TV screens.

A beautifully written memoir full of reflections on the deaths of strangers and family members.

She often finds herself dealing with the most macabre cases of murder. But the no-nonsense Scot is an upbeat character with a dry sense of humour, clearly identifiable in her memoir.

Ideal reading if you're a cheerful soul who likes to think about death. And think how it'll brighten your conversation on holiday.

Best of the Year: Memoir 
This book captures the profundity of human life while displaying a sense of humour, and peels back the skin to reveal a world few of us ever discover

Dame Sue Black, the woman who inspired the hit television show Silent Witness and has done for forensic science what Strictly has done for ballroom dancing, is an unlikely but deeply worthy national treasure.... Black's memoir, like her story, is curiously vibrant and life-affirming.

You can't help but warm to this retired professor of anatomy and forensic anthropology who chose "the many faces of death" as her medical speciality, yet is herself so vividly alive. Like [David] Nott, Black travelled the world at times, sifting maggots, bullets and human body parts in war zones. Despite it all, she remains convinced that our humanity transcends the very worst of which our species is capable.

Rachel Clarke author of forthcoming Dear Life

A Life in Death

Random House presents the audiobook edition of All That Remains by Professor Sue Black, read by the author. 
 
Sue Black confronts death every day. As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All that Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her. 
 
Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue’s book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour in stories as gripping as the best crime novel. Our own death will remain a great unknown. But as an expert witness from the final frontier, Sue Black is the wisest, most reassuring, most compelling of guides. 
 
‘Dame Sue Black writes about life and death with great tenderness but no nonsense, with impeccable science lucidly explained, and with moral depths humanely navigated, so that we can all feel better about the path we must all inevitably follow. I am genuinely glad I read this book.’ – Lee Child 
 
‘Compelling, brave and extremely accessible... A must for anyone who thinks about the basics of living and dying. And there are jokes as well.’ – Rachel Joyce

One of the world's leading forensic scientists recounts stories from her professional life, describing the many faces of death she sees and detailing what our mortal remains can tell us and how she confronts the inevitable.

Sue Black (Author) 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. Sue Black (Reader) Saving Bletchley Park is Sue's first book. At the time of funding it was the fastest crowdfunded book in the world EVER! 
 
Dr Sue Black left home and school at 16, married at 20 and had 3 children by the age of 23. At 25, a single parent living on a council estate in Brixton, she decided to get an education. Sue studied maths at Southwark College, then gained a degree in computing and a PhD in software engineering at London South Bank University. 
 
In 2001 Sue set up the UK's first online network for women in tech, BCSWomen. It was this that led her in 2003 to Bletchley Park for the first time, and to starting her campaign to save it in 2008. 
 
Passionate about the way that technology and education can change lives Sue is now a social entrepreneur, "tech...", writer and public speaker who has won numerous awards including being one of the '50 most inspiring women in European tech'. Her start-up, #techmums works with disadvantaged families, teaching mums tech skills to empower them, build their confidence and get them excited about technology. Sue writes regularly in the UK national press about technology. 
 
Sue would love to know if you enjoyed reading Saving Bletchley Park, so please do tweet her @Dr_Black and let her know using the Twitter ID @savingbletchley.

All That Remains

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