Spontaneous combustion

Blurb

What causes normal, apparently healthy human beings to suddenly blaze to death? To the Victorians, it was the ultimate proof that drinking was wicked: hellfire itself seemed to claim the victim of "spontaneous human combustion (SHC)." SHC leaves the body burned to fine ash apart from perhaps a foot or the top of the victim's head, yet furniture nearby might be little more than singed. Is it, as the Victorians thought, "fire from the inside"? SHC is a scientifically recognized phenomenon, but few scientists can agree on its cause. This book studies the theories that seek to explain a horrifying form of death. Illustrated.