Jack the Ripper: CSI Whitechapel

[Albert]

I think the top hat and cape 'logo', rightly or wrongly, has come to symbolise JTR more than any other. It has been used on so many covers and is immediately recognisable, so if you want to move product off the shelves, it has to 'speak' to the customer and tell them what to expect. I, for one, have no problem with it, as I know from the authors names alone, that this will be a scholarly,well researched and readable book - remember the old adage 'You can't judge a book by looking at the cover' - my copy is now preordered on Amazon - top hat and all!!
regards Albert

[DGB]

Usually when I have money to spend on a book there is nothing around worth buying. It looks as though that will change in the near future. I shall certainly buy this one. I'm not qualified to say what makes a good book cover, but, if the title is CSI Whitechapel, there probably needs to be an unmistakable visual clue as to the subject and, in the public perception (sadly), the top-hatted toff is the image which would get that point across.

Regards, Bridewell.

Very good point. CSI: Jack the Ripper doesn't fit in with Las Vegas, New York, Miami thing. And it's about getting the message across.

(Las Vegas, New York, Miami....Whitechapel! )

[FrancoLoco]

Just preordered it on Amazon. Now I've gotta get me a top hat.

[Albert]

CSI Whitechapel finally here

At last, my copy of CSI Whitechapel has arrived (it's been ordered since May) and at first glance it looks brilliant and well worth the wait. Can't wait to read it. Thanks to Paul Begg and John Bennett for doing this.

[John Bennett]

Ulp! I'm still waiting for mine!

[Albert]

John
Thanks for this releasing this book - it will be a classic, I'm sure. Everything about it is excellent, from the layout to the artwork and from the text to the photographs. Brilliant.
Albert

[JDow]

If you are going to pick holes in the cover, don't forget that Jack looks about 20 ft tall.....

The cover is irrelevant - this looks like being a great addition to the arsenal of JtR literature. Do let us know when there's an exact publication date.

<sidles in beside pigeons; unleashes moggy>

Maybrick wore a top hat.

<exits, stage left, pursued by pitchfork wielding locals shouting 'Leather Apron!'>

[Phil H]

I ordered my copy from Amazon today. Hopefully it will arrive in time for me to take it on a trip to Scotland this weekend and read it on a long train journey.

Phil H

[Jdombrowski89]

I fail to see the importance in nitpicking on the cover, let alone the specifics of it. Coming from two of the best authors in Ripperology today, you'd think some people would be satisfied with the quality, not quantity. Unfortunately, as Paul has stated, things such as these deal with the marketing aspect of the business.

Just as with Filmmaking and writing anything, it's become, in this society and day and age, a marketing industry in terms of books, movies, and music. What is the public used to when they think of Jack the Ripper? A man carrying a gladstone bag, with a top hat and a black cape around London Fog. It's whats captivated many, and even some of us, to perhaps look into the real story and the murders themselves. So from a Marketing standpoint -- I can see why the publisher chose the cover. Although the look is mostly innaccurate from what we know, that image and the visual(s) it presents is what's going to get people interested, especially the term 'CSI' and 'Jack the Ripper'. Marketing genius.

We've got better things to argue about.

Congrats, Paul and John. Looking forward to purchasing this gem.

JD

[Cogidubnus]

Stunned

I think this book is possibly the best general introduction to the Whitechapel Murders so far produced...it is difficult to envisage anything better...One could only describe the level of illustration using the cliched terms "lavish" and "atmospheric" but I don't think even those words do the work justice...

There's nothing startlingly new here, except the sheer quality of the production...I'm stunned...I know the word is probably wrong, bearing in mind the subject matter, but it's a beautiful book...

Congratulations Paul/John...I reckon you've crafted a winner!

All the best

Dave

[Phil H]

My copy of the book was waiting for me when I returned from a weekend away. I opened the amazon package not knowing what I would find. I had ordered the book solely on the reputation of the two authors.

Yesterday I perused it for the first time and I know it is a book I will go back to time and again. It immediately gained a place on the shelf where i keep my reliable Ripper references.

Why?

Well, as Cogidubnus has said it is a good general introduction to the subject. I saw no immediate glaring errors (though I have not read it in detail yet) and it seems to follow no specific "theory". Thus it should be a useful quick resource for checking basic facts.

But, for me at least, it is the recreation of the Whitechapel of autumn 1888 that is most helpful and a brilliant addition to our visual knowledge. The (I assume) computer renditions of the murder sites are superb. The texturing at first glance looks "off", but one gets used to that. What is impressive is the painstaking recreation of each site, the lighting, the appearance, the atmosphere. We can now visualise brilliantly the dimness of the lighting - compnsating for many of the old but "taken in daylight" pictures to which we are used. I was slightly disappointed that there was no recreation of the interior of 13 Miller's Court.

The book has been exquisitely put together too - it is nice to hold, lovely to look at, and CRAMMED with information. The maps are excellent, clear and helpful - I can for the first time begin to understand the assault on Emma Smith, for instance. We have precise placings of all the lodging houses, especially in Dorset St, but also elsewhere - that corrected some mental misconceptions for me.

All in all a most valuable addition to the Ripper library and one that i would recommend highly to anyone.

Congratulations to the authors on a job excellently done.

Phil H

[Tom_Wescott]

Below is the publisher's blurb from Amazon.com. It lists a few review excerpts. How can I get a copy of the Ripper Notes issue that reviewed this book?

Reviews of the hardback edition:

'Such an extensive and entertaining book has long been needed, and we are fortunate that Paul Begg has chosen to write it' "Ripper Notes"

'As good a general account of Jack the Ripper as exists' "The Sunday Telegraph"

'Rather than being another attempt to identify the culprit, this book examines the facts behind one of the most infamous and grisly episodes of the Victorian era.' "Best of British"

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Supe]

Tom,

A Ripper Notes review in 2012? Does that mean Norder is back? Say it ain't so.

Don.

[John Bennett]

Sorry folks, these aren't reviews of the book. Rather naughtily, Amazon have put up a few reviews of Paul's 'The Facts', and they were there before this book even came out.

JB

[mariab]

Wow, nice trick by amazon. To confuse Ripperology's editorial body.

“Rather than being another attempt to identify the culprit, this book examines the facts behind one of the most infamous and grisly episodes of the Victorian era.“ should have given it away anyway.
'Course amazon got it wrong, as, even without the book being a self-declared "another attempt to identify the culprit", the careful reader might detect a tendency towards considering Kozminsky as a viable suspect.