Death and how we face it -- Some literature about death -- Definitions of death -- Responses to the reality of death -- Medical advances, care of the dying, and the euthanasia movement before 1952 -- Death in the nineteenth century -- Mortality, 1900-1950 -- The early euthanasia movement -- The euthanasia movement in Great Britain and the United States -- Attempts to legalize euthanasia in the United States -- Opposition to the euthanasia movement -- Mercy killings -- Changes in medical care and the way we die: the euthanasia movement, 1953-1965 -- Advance directives: their legalization and implementation -- The original living will -- Medical power of attorney: health care agent appointed by the patient -- Federal law relating to advance directives -- The role of the courts in end-of-life decision making -- Suicide, assisted suicide, and euthanasia -- Attempts to legalize physician-assisted suicide -- Palliative care.