Charnel Houses & Ossuaries

Do you know about charnel houses and ossuaries? I thought I did until I met Paul Koudounaris and read The Empire of Death, his wonderfully detailed book on these Catholic novelties. Many of these charnel houses/rooms are not known to the public therefore Paul spent many years doing research on his own, initially through the internet and then traveling to these choice destinations in order to photograph them. He was given special permission to do so and his Fine Arts degree is evident in the richly, beautifully detailed images within the pages of this cool coffee table book. Five years in the making, this book is chockfull of history and is not only an interesting read, but it's also candy for the eyes. I thought I'd never see anything more stunning than the catacombs beneath the streets of Paris, but I was wrong. This book has become my travel bucket list. You can order it here: http://www.amazon.com/The-Empire-Death-Cultural-Ossuaries/dp/0500251789/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1331687569&sr=1-1