Awards
- Nominated for David J. Langum, Sr. Prize in American Legal History or Biography 2009
- Nominated for James Willard Hurst Prize 2010
- Nominated for Littleton-Griswold Prize 2010
Overview
A death occurs at home, in a hospital, on a street: why? As Jeffrey Jentzen reveals, we often never know. Why is the American system of death investigation so inconsistent and inadequate? What can the events of the assassination of President Kennedy, killing of Bobby Kennedy, and Chappaquiddick reveal about the state of death investigation? If communities in early America had a coroner at all, he was politically appointed and poorly trained. As medicine became more sophisticated and the medical profession more confident, physicians struggled to establish a professionalized, physician-led system of death investigation. The conflict between them and the coroners, as well as politicians and law enforcement agencies, led to the patchwork of local laws and practices that persist to this day. In this unique political and cultural history, Jentzen draws on archives, interviews, and his own career as a medical examiner to look at the way that a long-standing professional and political rivalry controls public medical knowledge and public health.
Full Product Details
Author: Jeffrey M. Jentzen
Publisher: Harvard University Press
Imprint: Harvard University Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.30cm
, Length: 23.50cm
Weight: 0.544kg
ISBN: 9780674034532
ISBN 10: 0674034538
Pages: 300
Publication Date: 01 October 2009
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
College/higher education
,
Professional & Vocational
,
Tertiary & Higher Education
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Out of stock
The supplier is temporarily out of stock of this item. It will be ordered for you on backorder and shipped when it becomes available.
Reviews
Jentzen's book stands alone and defines a field. It is full of ironic twists and the grim comedy of the often bizarre stories of famous death investigations in the past. Jentzen has an eye for the right anecdote to illustrate a large idea, and has found wonderful quotations to drive home his points. The United States deserves a better system of death investigation; Jentzen helps us understand why we never got one. -- James Mohr, University of Oregon
Jentzen's book stands alone and defines a field. It is full of ironic twists and the grim comedy of the often bizarre stories of famous death investigations in the past. Jentzen has an eye for the right anecdote to illustrate a large idea, and has found wonderful quotations to drive home his points. The United States deserves a better system of death investigation; Jentzen helps us understand why we never got one.--James Mohr, University Of Oregon
Author Information
Jeffrey M. Jentzen, M.D., Ph.D., is Professor of Forensic Pathology and Director of Autopsy and Forensic Services at the University of Michigan Medical School, and former Medical Examiner in Milwaukee County, Wisconsin.
