The Deaths of the Popes: Comprehensive Accounts, Including Funerals, Burial Places and Epitaphs by Wendy Reardon is a comprehensive catalog, destined to become a necessary reference work for anyone interested in the deaths (and to a certain extent, the lives) of the popes (and antipopes).

In encyclopedia-type entries, Reardon follows a simple format: papal name, dates of reign, birth name, information about death, funeral, and burial. When possible, Reardon also presents all epitaphs (both in original language and English translation) and suggestions for further reading and research.

Anyone interested in mummification and preservation will be interested in the material on the exhumations of Silvester II, Clement II, St. Leo IX, St. Gregory VII, Hadrian IV, Innocent III, Urban IV, Celestine V, Boniface VIII, Urban VI, Antipope Benedict XIII, Innocent IX, and Blessed John XXIII, among others. Admittedly, some of the information is rather slim, but readers interested in knowing which popes were preserved will be rewarded.

A typical example is Reardon's report on Innocent IX. She quotes a church historian (from 1606) who wrote (after he witnessed the exhumation): "The body was wrapped in a gold chasuble with other papal insignia, with a gold miter, rind, and crucifix on his chest. The body was whole, but the head is not decomposed."

In all, Reardon covers 404 popes and antipopes, along with a brief description of the legend of Pope Joan who may have died after she was bound to a horse's tail, dragged through Rome, and stoned until dead. The book also includes 147 photographs, and nine appendices (see below).

Highly recommended.