Acknowledgements
Colin Murray Parkes, President of Cruse-Bereavement Care discussed the idea of a study group on martyrs and martyrdom with Peter C. Jupp in 2005 and in 2010 recommended a special issue of Mortality on the topic. We thank Mortality’s editors for accepting our proposal. As a result of an advertisement in Mortality, August 2011 we received 15 viable offers of papers. We are very grateful for all these submissions and most especially for the seven contributors who contributed to the issue. Our anonymous referees supplied most helpful suggestions and comments which greatly aided the revision of the papers. The special issue belongs to the contributors. They were speedy in revising papers and attending to smaller editorial matters. They made the task of editing the volume much easier than it might have been. Finally, special thanks to Nicola Presley, the editorial officer of Mortality for her indispensable assistance in the production of this special issue.