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Selected Book List on Near-Death Experiences
The following list of titles makes no pretense at being comprehensive, but is simply a starting point for books about
the near-death experience (NDE) and related subjects. This particular list includes most of the original titles in the field, because it is their descriptive reports upon which subsequent work has built.

Quite a few of the early titles are out of print but are available from used book sources; for an out-of-print title, check your library, or Amazon or other booksellers for a used copy.

Descriptive Studies (basic introduction to near-death experiences)

  • Fenwick, Peter & Elizabeth Fenwick (1995). The Truth in the Light. New York: Berkley Books. Report by a well-respected neuropsychiatrist and his wife, based on a careful study of over 300 NDEs in the United Kingdom. See his article, “Science and Spirituality,” on the IANDS website, www.iands.org/research.
  • Grey, Margot (1985). Return from Death: An Exploration of the Near-Death Experience.  London, England: Arkana. A fine, comprehensive work, the first study of NDEs done in Britain.
  • Moody, Raymond (1975). Life After Life. New York: Bantam. The book that began it all. Easy reading, basic; some findings have since been disputed.
  • Ring, Kenneth (1982). Life at Death: A Scientific Investigation of the Near-Death Experience. The first quantifiable attempt to describe the NDE itself. Most other researchers have corroborated the basic findings reported here.
  • Ring, Kenneth (1985). Heading toward Omega: In search of the meaning of the near-death experience. New York: Quill. The early work documenting changes after a NDE.
  • Sabom, Michael B. (1984). Recollections of Death: A Medical Investigation. A clearly written and fascinating discussion of the first physician-conducted study of near-death experiences, with special attention to verifiable out-of-body experiences. Highly recommended. For an evangelical Christian perspective, see his Light and Death (1998).
  • Sutherland, Cheryl Sutherland, C. (1992). Transformed by the light: Life after Near-Death Experiences. Sydney, Australia: Bantam
  • van Lommel, Pim., R. van Wees, V. Meyers, & I. Elfferich, I. (Article, 2001). Near-death experience in survivors of cardiac arrest: A prospective study in the Netherlands. Lancet, 358(9298), 2039-2045.
Readers
  • Bailey, Lee W., & Yates, J. (Eds.) (1996). The Near-Death Experience: A Reader. New York: Routledge. Comprehensive overview of NDEs, with accounts and interpretations from writers representing a variety of fields. Excellent for classroom use or a solid grounding.
  • Greyson, Bruce and Charles Flynn (Eds.) (1984). The Near-Death Experience: Problems, Prospects, Perspectives. With a Foreword by Michael B. Sabom. Springfield, IL: Charles C Thomas. The earliest and still one of the best overviews of the field.
  • Holden, Janice Miner, Bruce Greyson, and Debbie James (Eds.) (2009).  The Handbook of Near-Death Experiences: Thirty Years of Investigation. A summary of what has been discovered about NDEs in the first three decades of research; presentations from the historic 2006 IANDS conference at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center. Comprehensive, scholarly.
General Interest
  • Atwater, PMH (2007). The Big Book of Near Death Experiences: The Ultimate Guide to What Happens When We Die. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads Publisher. A popular and prolific author presents the most complete introduction to the subject of NDEs, along with some of the more controversial opinions about causes and effects.
  • Atwater, PMH (2001). Coming Back to Life: The After-effects of the Near-Death Experience (rev. ed.). Sacramento,CA: Citadel Press. A mingling of observation, analysis, and metaphysical speculation. Experiencers say, “She tells it like it is” about aftereffects and experiencer reactions.
  • Berman, Phillip L. (1998). The Journey Home. New York: Pocket Books. A thoughtful, non-sensationalist presentation of NDEs, readable and well reviewed by book-buyers at Amazon.
  • Corcoran, Diane, ed. (2004) When Ego Dies: A Compilation of Near-Death and Mystical Conversion Experiences. Houston, TX: Emerald Ink. A collection of relatively brief pieces by members of the IANDS local support group of the Houston, TX, area.
  • Gallup, G., Jr., with Proctor, W. (1982). Adventures in Immortality: A look beyond the threshold of death. New York: McGraw Hill.
  • Kellehear, Allan (1996). Experiences Near Death: Beyond Medicine and Religion. New York: Oxford University Press. A cross-cultural and sociological approach to NDEs, their cultural and psychological response and why they occur. Ken Ring called it “an absolute must read for any serious student of the NDE.” 
  • Ring, Kenneth & Eleanor Ellsesser-Valarino (1998). Lessons from the Light: What We Can Learn from the Near-Death Experience. Portsmouth, NH: Moment Point Press. What non-NDErs can learn from the NDE.
  • Morse, Melvin & Paul Perry (1990). Closer to the Light: Learning from the Near-Death Experiences of Children. New York: Ballantine. A pediatrician’s description of children’s NDEs.
Distressing
  • Ellwood, Gracia Fay. The Uttermost Deep. Deeply thoughtful analysis of NDE phenomenon. Discussion of the implications of NDEs in general, with a superb chapter (#4) on, and subsequent discussion of, "painful" NDEs.
  • Rommer, Barbara. (2000). Blessing in Disguise: AnotherSside of the Near-Death Experience. St. Paul, MN: Llewellyn. Overview of what the author calls “less-than-positive” NDEs, written by a physician. Many quotes from experiencers.
Gay and Lesbian
  • Dale, Liz (2001)  Crossing Over and Coming Home: Twenty-One Authors Discuss the Gay Near-Death Experience as Spiritual Transformation. Houston, Texas: Emerald Ink, 2001. GLBT (gay/lesbian/bisexual/transgendered) NDErs describe their experiences and aftereffects.
Hospice and Nearing Death Awareness
  • Callanan, Maggie, & Kelley, Patricia. (1992). Final Gifts: Understanding the Special Awareness, Needs, and Communication of the Dying. New York: Bantam. Two hospice nurses describe the experiences of dying patients.
  • Callanan, Maggie. (2008) Final Journeys: A Practical Guide for Bringing Care and Comfort at the End of Life. New York: Bantam.
  • Kircher, Pamela. (1995). Love is the Link: A hospice doctor shares her experience of near-death and dying. Burdett, NY: Larson. Unique perspective from an author who is, herself, a childhood NDEr.
  • Kübler-Ross, Elisabeth. (1997 reprint ed.). On Death and Dying: What the Dying Have to Teach Doctors, Nurses, Clergy and Their Families. The classic book that raised American consciousness about the experiences and needs of the dying.
Brain-function Perspective
  • Beauregard, Mario and O’Leary, Denise. (2007). The Spiritual Brain: A Neuroscientist's Case for the Existence of the Soul.  New York: HarperOne. Just what the title says. Fascinating.
  • Blackmore, Susan. (1993). Dying to Live: Science and the Near-Death Experience. London: Grafton/HarperCollins. Explains NDEs as a product of brain function. Provocative.
  • Barbara Bradley Hagerty (2009). Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spirituality  New York: Riverhead (Penguin). A good summary of the status of research about brain function.
Spiritual Emergency
  • Grof, Stanislav. (1989). Spiritual Emergency: When Personal Transformation Becomes a Crisis. Tarcher. Invaluable resource when a person becomes psychologically overwhelmed by spiritual experience.
 Related Topics, worth reading
  • Cardeña, E., Lynn, S. J., & Krippner, Stanley. (2000). Varieties of Anomalous Experience: Examining the Scientific Evidence. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. The APA’s first formal acknowledgment of non-ordinary experiences. Excellent chapter on NDEs by a foremost NDE researcher, psychiatrist Bruce Greyson.
  • Cox-Chapman, Mally. (1995). The Case for Heaven. NDEs as evidence of an afterlife.
  • Fenwick, Peter & Fenwick, Elizabeth. (2008). The Art of Dying: A Journey to Elsewhere. New York: Continuum
  • Fox, Mark. (2002). Religion, Spirituality and the Near-Death Experience. London: Routledge.
  • Guggenheim, Bill, & Guggenheim, Judy. (1995).  Hello from Heaven. Reports of the incidence and typesof after-death communication. New York: Bantam.
  • Kason, Yvonne. (2008, rev.ed.). Farther Shores: How Near-Death and Other Extraordinary Experiences Can Change Ordinary Lives. Toronto: iPublishing. Comprehensive description of the varieties of potentially spiritually transformative experiences, their aftereffects, and suggestions for coping by a physician who had a transformative NDE. Contains hard-to-find information on the sometimes alarming symptoms of kundalini energy.
  • Kelly, Edward et al (includes Bruce Greyson). Irreducible Mind:Toward a Psychology for the 21st Century. Lanham, Maryland: Rowman & Littlefield. Comprehensive and detailed empirical proof that the reductive, materialistic belief that mind equals brain is not just incomplete but false. A major scholarly work.
  • Parnia, Sam. (2007). What Happens When We Die?: A Groundbreaking Study into the Nature of Life and Death. London: Hay House. Up-to-the-minute data and theory about what is known about mind, brain, and consciousness as demonstrated by NDEs. Good information, especially for the scientifically minded reader.
  • Swedenborg, Emmanuel. (2000, reissue). Heaven and Hell. West Chester, PA: Swedenborg Foundation, Inc. A description of the spiritual world as experienced by the famous 18th century Swedish mystic

Autobiography/Biography (a sampling of the many titles available)

Please keep in mind, especially when reading the autobiographical works, that no single viewpoint represents the entire field of near-death studies.

  • Alayna. (1997). Rag Doll: A Journey of Healing and Integration. Suffolk, England: MM Publications. Written by a woman whose NDE as an adult helped her resolve the lifelong traumatic aftereffects of childhood sexual abuse.
  • Eadie, Bettie (1992). Embraced by the Light. New York: Bantam. One of the most widely read accounts.
  • Farr, S. (1993). What Tom Sawyer Learned from Dying. Charlottesville, VA: Hampton Roads. An informative account about one of the participants in Ken Ring’s classic research.
  • Ritchie, George (1978). Return from Tomorrow. Waco, TX: Chosen Books. A classic. The account that inspired Raymond Moody to inquire into the phenomenon that he eventually named the “near-death experience.”
  • Rogers, Sandi. (1995). Lessons from the Light: Insights from a Journey to the Other Side. An autobiographical account from a woman whose NDE occurred when she attempted suicide. New York: Warner.
  • Sharp, Kimberly Clark (1995). After the Light. New York: William Morrow. The personal story of a social worker who also has been active in IANDS.
  • Storm, Howard (2000). My Descent into Death, and the Message of Love Which Brought Me Back. New York: Doubleday. An autobiographical account by a pre-NDE art professor, post-NDE clergyman.
  • Suleman, A. (2005)  A Passage to Eternity. Calgary, Alberta, Canada: Amethyst Publishing. Rare account of a Muslim woman's NDE, including her interpretation based on her upbringing in the mystical Shia branch of Islam.