Forensic pathologist Alexey Reshetun (better known as the LiveJournal blogger mossudmed) knows death firsthand. He's dealt with it every workday for 17 years: in fact, its causes are the very object of his study. This means he knows better than anyone why we die and what not to do to avoid ending up on the autopsy table prematurely. Readers of his blog are quickly quitting smoking, drinking, and starting to exercise. However, he's not preaching morals: he's simply showing how things will end if you continue in the same vein. His book is by no means a scientific work or a textbook. It's primarily intended for people with no medical background, so you won't find complex terminology. Instead, you'll learn how a forensic pathologist works, how they differ from a pathologist, how they perform autopsies, what they do with the removed organs, and the amazing stories that fill their daily workdays. By sharing insights we often shy away from, the author challenges us to rethink an old truth: our lives—and death—depend on ourselves.
The new edition includes additional chapters in which the author discusses the tools forensic scientists use, the laboratories they work in, the exhumation process, and also discusses motorcycle accidents, iatrogenesis, and his favorite students.