Written In Bone: hidden stories in what we leave behind
About this audiobook
Brought to you by Penguin.
Our bones are the silent witnesses to the lives we lead. Our stories are marbled into their marrow.
Drawing upon her years of research and a wealth of remarkable experience, the world-renowned forensic anthropologist Dame Sue Black takes us on a journey of revelation. From skull to feet, via the face, spine, chest, arms, hands, pelvis and legs, she shows that each part of us has a tale to tell. What we eat, where we go, everything we do leaves a trace, a message that waits patiently for months, years, sometimes centuries, until a forensic anthropologist is called upon to decipher it.
Some of this information is easily understood, some holds its secrets tight and needs scientific cajoling to be released. But by carefully piecing together the evidence, the facts of a life can be rebuilt. Limb by limb, case by case – some criminal, some historical, some unaccountably bizarre – Dame Sue Black reconstructs with intimate sensitivity and compassion the hidden stories in what we leave behind.
© Sue Black 2020 (P) Penguin Audio 2020
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About the author
Sue Black (Author)
Professor Lady Sue Black is one of the world’s leading anatomists and forensic anthropologists. She is President of St John’s College, Oxford and previously Pro-Vice Chancellor for Engagement at Lancaster University. From 2003 to 2018 she was Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology at the University of Dundee. In 2026 she was appointed as Squadron Honorary Colonel of 2 (City of Dundee and Highland) Signal Squadron, 32 Signal Regiment Army Reserve and named as the new Chancellor of Anglia Ruskin University.
She was the lead anthropologist for the British Forensic Team in the war crimes investigations in Kosovo, and one of the first forensic scientists to travel to Thailand following the Indian Ocean tsunami.
Sue was appointed Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire for services to forensic anthropology and is a Lady of the Most Ancient and Most Noble Order of the Thistle.
She is the author of the critically acclaimed and award-winning Sunday Times bestsellers All That Remains, Written in Bone and An Expert Witness: Forensic Science on Trial.
Sue Black (Reader)
Saving Bletchley Park is Sue's first book. At the time of funding it was the fastest crowdfunded book in the world EVER!
Dr Sue Black left home and school at 16, married at 20 and had 3 children by the age of 23. At 25, a single parent living on a council estate in Brixton, she decided to get an education. Sue studied maths at Southwark College, then gained a degree in computing and a PhD in software engineering at London South Bank University.
In 2001 Sue set up the UK's first online network for women in tech, BCSWomen. It was this that led her in 2003 to Bletchley Park for the first time, and to starting her campaign to save it in 2008.
Passionate about the way that technology and education can change lives Sue is now a social entrepreneur, "tech...", writer and public speaker who has won numerous awards including being one of the '50 most inspiring women in European tech'. Her start-up, #techmums works with disadvantaged families, teaching mums tech skills to empower them, build their confidence and get them excited about technology. Sue writes regularly in the UK national press about technology.
Sue would love to know if you enjoyed reading Saving Bletchley Park, so please do tweet her @Dr_Black and let her know using the Twitter ID @savingbletchley.
