'I received my copy of The Nature of Grief in the mail earlier today, and I have not been able to put it down. Although I have not completed it, I wanted to compliment you on an absolutely extraordinary work. It is MUST reading for any stress and coping or bereavement researcher, and will learn a lot from reading it. Thank you for your superb contribution to our field.' - Roxane Silver, University of California, Irvine'A number of psychologists have written about bereavement in recent years, but this is the first to adopt an evolutionary perspective. I am delighted to discover that this point of view can be developed in an original and intelligent way.' - Colin Murray Parkes

• List of illustrations, Preface, Acknowledgements, 1 Introduction: what is grief?, 2 The historical background to grief research, 3 Accounts of grief from other sources, 4 The biological context of grief, 5 The grief process: an analytic approach, 6 The grief process: holistic views, 7 The resolution of grief, 8 The mental processes of grief, 9 An evolutionary view of individual differences in grief, 10 The relationship with the deceased, 11 Loss of a son or daughter, 12 Death of a relative or friend, 13 The influence of the age and sex of the bereaved, 14 Conclusions, References, Author index, Subject index