Editions

  • Home
  • Shaking Hands With Death
Shaking Hands With Death

Shaking Hands With Death

Why we all deserve a life worth living and a death worth dying for

‘Most men don’t fear death. They fear those things – the knife, the shipwreck, the illness, the bomb – which precede, by microseconds if you’re lucky, and many years if you’re not, the moment of death.’

When Terry Pratchett was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s in his fifties he was angry - not with death but with the disease that would take him there, and with the suffering disease can cause when we are not allowed to put an end to it. In this essay, broadcast to millions as the BBC Richard Dimblebly Lecture 2010 and previously only available as part of A Slip of the Keyboard, he argues for our right to choose - our right to a good life, and a good death too.

More from this Author

View all View all
View all View all

About the Author

Terry Pratchett

Terry Pratchett was the acclaimed creator of the global bestselling Discworld series, the first of which, The Colour of Magic, was published in 1983. In all, he was the author of over fifty bestselling books. His novels have been widely adapted for stage and screen, and he was the winner of multiple prizes, including the Carnegie Medal, as well as being awarded a knighthood for services to literature. He died in March 2015.

Terry Pratchett

Related articles

/content/dam/prh/articles/children/2019/april/DodgerQuiz-ArticleCard.jpg

Quizzes

What job would you have in Dodger’s Victorian London?

Victorian London; a mysterious metropolis blanketed in fog, made up of an eclectic mix of people playing the part that life has assigned them...
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/children-archive/puffin/witchs-recipe-inline.png

Games & activities

Make some star-shaped biscuits from The Witch's Vacuum Cleaner

Get the party started with a batch of bewitching star cookies. Witches and wizards will hoover up these tasty star cookies inspired by The Witch’s Vacuum Cleaner by Terry Pratchett.
/content/dam/prh/articles/archive/children-archive/puffin/snippet_wee-free-men.png

Extracts

The Wee Free Men by Terry Pratchett

Tiffany wants to be a witch when she grows up. A proper one, with a pointy hat. And flying, she’s always dreamed of flying (though it’s cold up there, you have to wear really thick pants, two layers). Read an extract from The Wee Free Men, the first book in the Tiffany Aching series by Terry Pratchett.

Our Use of Cookies

We use cookies on this site to enable certain parts of the site to function and to collect information about your use of the site so that we can improve our visitors’ experience.

For more on our cookies and changing your settings click here

Strictly Necessary

Strictly Necessary cookies enable core functionality such as security, network management, and accessibility. You may disable these by changing your browser settings, but this may affect how the website functions. See More.

Analytics

Analytics cookies help us to improve our website by collecting and reporting information on how you use it. These cookies may be set by us or by third-party providers whose services we have added to our pages. See More.

Preferences & Features

Preference and Feature cookies allow our website to remember choices you make, such as your language preferences and any customisations you make to pages on our website during your visit. See More.

Targeting / Advertising

Targeting cookies are used to make advertising messages more relevant to you and your interests. They perform functions like preventing the same content from reappearing, ensuring ads are displayed and, in some cases, selecting content based on your interests. See More.