This work looks at the phenomenon of spontaneous combustion, by which a living person is reduced to ashes by a fire that originates from within the body. The author, an expert in the field, has gathered a dossier of case studies and eye-witness accounts, to try and explain the mystery. In this work, Heymer dedicates himself to an investigation of spontaneous human combustion by which he has gathered a wide-ranging dossier of horrific case studies from across the world, reporting not only those who have died from SHC but also the invaluable evidence of those who have survived, supplemented by extraordinary eye-witness accounts. He analyses the commonsense explanations for SHC as alcohol- or smoking-related accidental deaths, and the much-vaunted wick effect whereby a body is supposed to be immolated in its own fat, and exposes their inadequacy.