Dead Men Talking

On the centenary of World War I, this is a timely book about the afterlife communication from soldiers who died in that war. That period saw an understandable rise in the popularity of Spiritualism, but there were many serious investigators from the SPR also researching survival, including Sir Oliver Lodge, Sir William Barrett, both Fellows of the Royal Society, and the author Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. Lodge, quoted at the beginning of the book as saying that death is a transition, a natural process of emancipation of the soul from the body, lost one of his own sons, Raymond, in the conflict. This is also the title of a famous book featured in the first chapter here. The preface and introduction explain the context of this kind of communication and individual chapters give detail of the sittings or messages along with editorial commentary. Claude Kelway-Bamber (a name from my school days) was shot down in November 1915 and gives a vivid description of his death and its aftermath in a book written by his mother. Towards the end, there is a section on psychic phenomena and war, including a New Zealand foot soldier who correctly dreamt that he would be shot through the head on June 25, 1915. There is much material for reflection in this well edited book.