Leonie Kellaher

Public Order and Private Lives is a radical examination of the political forces which shape the law and order debate in Britain. Mike Brake and Chris Hale provide a hard-hitting analysis of Conservative policies on Crime, showing that, ironically, Conservative policies have created the very social conditions in which crime has flourished. They argue that the government is undermining basic civil liberties by its increased use of legislation as a means of control and coercion.

Burial sites have long been recognized as a way to understand past civilizations. Yet, the meanings of our present day cemeteries have been virtually ignored, even though they reveal much about our cultures. Exploring an extraordinarily diverse range of memorial practice - Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Anglican, as well as the unchurched - The Secret Cemetery is an intriguing study of what these places of death mean to the living. Most of us experience cemeteries at a ritualized moment of loss. What we forget is that these are often places to which we return either as a general space in which to contemplate or as a specific site to be tended. These are also places where different communities can reinforce boundaries and even recreate a sense of homeland. Over time, ritual, artefact and place shape an intensely personal landscape of memory and mourning, a landscape more alive, more actively engaged with than many of the other places we inhabit.

Burial sites have long been recognized as a way to understand past civilizations. Yet, the meanings of our present day cemeteries have been virtually ignored, even though they reveal much about our cultures. Exploring an extraordinarily diverse range of memorial practice - Greek Orthodox, Muslim, Jewish, Roman Catholic and Anglican, as well as the unchurched - The Secret Cemetery is an intriguing study of what these places of death mean to the living. Most of us experience cemeteries at a ritualized moment of loss. What we forget is that these are often places to which we return either as a general space in which to contemplate or as a specific site to be tended. These are also places where different communities can reinforce boundaries and even recreate a sense of homeland. Over time, ritual, artefact and place shape an intensely personal landscape of memory and mourning, a landscape more alive, more actively engaged with than many of the other places we inhabit.

Public Order and Private Lives is a radical examination of the political forces which shape the law and order debate in Britain. Mike Brake and Chris Hale provide a hard-hitting analysis of Conservative policies on Crime, showing that, ironically, Conservative policies have created the very social conditions in which crime has flourished. They argue that the government is undermining basic civil liberties by its increased use of legislation as a means of control and coercion.