Although the cemeteries of Paris are some of the most visited sites in the city -- more than a 1.5 million tourists visit Pere Lachaise each year alone -- there are virtually no guidebooks available in English. Odd, but true.

Permanent Parisians by Judi Culbertson and Tom Randall is the only English language guide devoted solely to Paris cemeteries. Sadly, not only is it out-of-date (the last edition was published in 1996) but contains a surprising number of inaccuracies. (If you want to know more, see my review of Permanent Parisians on amazon.com.)

Pere Lachaise: Elysium as Real Estate. The only other notable book in English on Paris cemeteries in English by Frederick Brown is a fascinating intellectual study of Pere-Lachaise Cemetery. It , too is quite dated (1973), and presently out of print.

The Architecture of Death: The Transformation of the Cemetery in Eighteenth-Century Paris by Richard Etlin. Also out-of-print and hard to find at that, this masterful look at the evolution of the "pastoral" concept underlying present Paris cemeteries is truly impressive. He has also brought together in one place a fantastic collection of incredible prints and illustrations.

As you might expect, the best guidebooks are in French and most deal with just Pere-Lachaise Cemetery.

Guide des tombe d'hommes celebres by Bertrand Beyern. A singularly unique source of the most exhaustive listing of notable and near-notable burials in not just in Paris but throughout all of France. He also has excellent maps of the city's major cemeteries.

Le cimetiere du Pere-Lachaise by Valverde/Hughes. This is perhaps the best guide to Pere-Lachaise available today.  Outstanding photographs, up-to-date (2007), with superb maps of the cemetery, this is one book you will want to have in hand if you plan to undertake a serious exploration of Pere-Lachaise.

Le Pere-Lachaise: Guide du Flaneur by France Raimbault (2006, Alan Sutton Editions) has a nice set of itneraries as well as handy maps. Many of the photos are reprints of old postcards of Pere Lachaise. Very slick.

Au Pere-Lachaise: Son Histoire, ses secrets, ses promenades by Michel Dansel is solely anecdotal. No photos and no maps but lots of text.

Stories in Stone: A Field Guide to Cemetery Symbolism and Iconography by Douglas Keister. If you're curious about the meanings (hidden and otherwise) of the symbols and signs used in funerary sculpture and architecture around the western world I strongly recommend you pick up a copy of Douglas Keister's perceptive study. His narrative is lucid and fascinating, and his large and stunning collection of photos span cemeteries on both sides of the Atlantic.