{"title":"Books by Paul Koudounaris","description":null,"products":[{"product_id":"9780500251959","title":"Heavenly Bodies","description":"Following on the success of his book The Empire of Death , which has attracted a global cult following, Paul Koudounaris brings the catacomb saints out of the darkness with this astonishing volume, which includes arresting images of more than seventy spectacular jeweled skeletons and the fascinating stories of dozens more, accompanied by rare archive material. This is the first time that some of these incredible relics – both intriguing historical artifacts and masterpieces of artistic craftsmanship in their own right – have appeared in a publication, with Koudounaris gaining unprecedented access to photograph in some of the most secretive religious establishments in Europe. This will be essential reading for goths, art historians and everyone in between.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43201812431026,"sku":"9780500251959","price":20.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780500251959_794cf6cd-d8a0-4eea-ad2f-c7d7edaa0073.jpg?v=1786013891"},{"product_id":"9780500252611","title":"Memento Mori","description":"A macabre, spectacular and thought-provoking survey of human remains used in decorative, commemorative or devotional contexts across the world today, from the author of Heavenly Bodies and The Empire of Death.       Memento Mori takes the reader on a ghoulish but beautiful tour of some of the world’s more unusual sacred sites and traditions, in which human remains are displayed for the benefit of the living. From burial caves in Indonesia festooned with bones, to skulls smoking cigarettes, wearing beanie hats and sunglasses, and decorated with garlands of flowers in South America, Paul Koudounaris ventures beyond the grave to find messages of hope and salvation. His glorious colour photographs and informed commentaries reveal that in many places, the realms of the living and the dead are nowhere near so distinct as contemporary Western society would have us believe.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":43599613132978,"sku":"9780500252611","price":25.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780500252611_9def571a-6c70-4ad7-8bdf-dfa9856ebbf9.jpg?v=1786013919"},{"product_id":"9780500251782","title":"The Empire of Death","description":"In this tour de force of original cultural history, Paul Koudounaris takes the reader on an unprecedented international tour of macabre and devotional architectural masterpieces in nearly 20 countries. This is the first book to bring together the world’s most important charnel sites, ranging from the crypts of the Capuchin monasteries in Italy and the skull-encrusted columns of the ossuary in Évora in Portugal, to the strange tomb of a 1960s wealthy Peruvian nobleman decorated with the exhumed skeletons of his Spanish ancestors. Illustrated with specially taken photographs of sites rarely open to the public and forgotten archive images of others long destroyed, this mesmerising, shocking and deeply moving book is an essential memento mori for our modern age.","brand":"Gardners","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":56311779328373,"sku":"9780500251782","price":40.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0612\/7193\/3106\/files\/9780500251782_649e33a1-9341-4d7b-96f5-bff47874a8df.jpg?v=1786016065"}],"url":"https:\/\/backstory.london\/collections\/author-paul-koudounaris.oembed","provider":"Backstory","version":"1.0","type":"link"}