The light is what happens -- Struck by lightning -- What are death experiences? -- Bliss -- Hell, or something like it -- Those we meet -- With, or without, God -- Unasked-for gifts : the knowing and the powers -- Going home.

If you caught a glimpse of heaven, would you choose to come back to life' Investigative journalist Judy Bachrach has collected accounts of the post-postmortem, and the conclusions are astonishing. Clinical death-- 'the moment when the heart stops beating and brain stem activity ceases'-- is not as straightforward as it may seem. Hundreds of thousands of post-death experiences have been documented, and for many who have died and returned, life is forever changed. And now an increasing number of researchers are turning their studies to people who have traveled beyond the near-death experience, recognizing patterns and pushing the boundaries of science. Through interviews with scores of these "death travelers," and with physicians, nurses, and scientists unraveling the mysteries of the afterlife, Bachrach redefines the meaning of both life and death. Glimpsing Heaven reveals both the uncertainty and the surprising joys of life after death.