Ancestors

Ancestors have long featured in rituals of every kind, from solemn religious observances to private family customs and secular public ceremonies. Many communities take their shape from beliefs about forebears, and physicians treat a patient's family history as central both to diagnosis and to research into illness. Against this backdrop, Hertzel provides a brief introduction to how people today relate to those who came before them. The book considers why ancestry and beliefs about ancestors still matter in the contemporary world.