What book should I get next?

[Rack the Jipper]

Hi all,

I have read the following so far:

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper' by Phillip Sugden.
The Complete Jack the Ripper by Donald Rumbelow
The Jack the Ripper Sourcebook By Keith Skinner & Stewart Evans
The Maybrick Diary
The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper

The Sugden book and the Sourcebook are my absolute faves.

I have been looking at CSI Whitechapel. It looks very interesting and has got great reviews. I'm just wondering if there are any others that I could consider.
I'm looking at something a bit different from the ones I have already read as a lot cover the same ground.

Great site, look forward to learning more about this fascinating case.

[Rack the Jipper]

Another Book I have heard great reviews for is Paul Begg's 'the Facts' but I do wonder how much it can possibly differ from the Sourcebook and Sugden's masterpiece.

[John G]

Another Book I have heard great reviews for is Paul Begg's 'the Facts' but I do wonder how much it can possibly differ from the Sourcebook and Sugden's masterpiece.

Hi,

Welcome to the Casebook site. I have Paul Begg's "The Facts" and it is certainly an excellent book- the first two books I bought on the subject were Begg's and Sugden's.

However, the best book that I have read in recent times is "CSI Whitechapel." It is not only very informative, visually it is by far the best book on the subject that I have read. It contains a wealth of detailed illustration, i.e of the crime scenes, maps and photographs, that really allow you to immerse yourself into the period.

Best wishes,

John

[Rack the Jipper]

Hi,

Welcome to the Casebook site. I have Paul Begg's "The Facts" and it is certainly an excellent book- the first two books I bought on the subject were Begg's and Sugden's.

However, the best book that I have read in recent times is "CSI Whitechapel." It is not only very informative, visually it is by far the best book on the subject that I have read. It contains a wealth of detailed illustration, i.e of the crime scenes, maps and photographs, that really allow you to immerse yourself into the period.

Best wishes,

John

I've just ordered it, John. I have heard nothing but great things about it and your post made me stop messing about and to just order it.

Have you read 'Letters from Hell' at all?

[Richard Dewar]

I've just ordered it, John. I have heard nothing but great things about it and your post made me stop messing about and to just order it.

Have you read 'Letters from Hell' at all?

Welcome to the Casebook. "Letters From Hell" is a very interesting and beautifully illustrated book about the deluge of letters sent to the police and press from people claiming to be the murderer. It's not so much about specifically the murders but the press and public sensationalization of the case.

[Rosella]

What about Begg, Fido and Skinner's ' The Complete Jack the Ripper A to Z' which I have found useful and handy for decades? I think it's a must, really. It has biographical sections on practically everyone connected with the case.

I also enjoy 'Letters from Hell' but I wouldnt consider it essential, unlike Sugden or the above. Do not buy 'Scarlet Autumn'. Dreadful.

[GUT]

A-Z is a must have.

Tom Wescott's "Bank Holiday Murders" might make you rethink.

Helena Wojtczak's book on Chapman is a good book on the suspect. I suspect Jonathan Hainsworth's book on Druitt, due early next year should have some interesting material on Montie.

Really can't wait for Neil Bell's on policing in the era.

Is there a particular area you are interested in?

[Spotty]

I ordered CSI whitechapel last week too. Can't wait

[Jonathan H]

To Rack the Jipper

I cannot recommend highly enough Tom Cullen's "Autumn of Terror" (The Bodley Head, now absorbed into Random House). In my opinion it is an unsung literary-historical masterwork, albeit in a minor key.

It was published in 1965 and inevitably contains many errors.

It is also ignorant about a number of key players, e.g. George Sims gets short shrift and Dr. Tumblety was still unknown for nearly another 30 years.

But who gives a toss when the prose is so vivid and the argument so audacious?

I would also highly recommend "Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates" (Sutton Publishing, 2006) by Evans and Rumbelow as a superb--and superbly illustrated--narrative account of the police investigation between 1888 and 1891.


Thanks Gut

For your support about my book:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/new-releases/books/276306#1

Sorry to be pedantic but JACK THE RIPPER-CASE SOLVED, 1891 is not so much about Montague Druitt (though it showcases three new pictures of him, one being on the eye-catching cover by McFarlands).

Rather it is a loose biography of Sir Melville Macnaghten with new evidence that shows he was quite well-informed about Druitt.

Some of this evidence is in the public domain already (e.g. Guy Logan's 1905 opus) whilst other sources will make their debut in March.

I can now show that, in regards to Mac's chief suspect, there was a personal and private dimension so acute that it virtually precluded him, as a gentleman, from sharing this hot information with anybody he did not trust.

And for public consumption, from 1891, the profile of the real Ripper had to be altered in order to remain untraceable.

[GUT]

G'day Jonathan

Sorry to be pedantic but JACK THE RIPPER-CASE SOLVED, 1891 is not so much about Montague Druitt (though it showcases three new pictures of him, one being on the eye-catching cover by McFarlands).

Those three alone are enough new material.

[Caligo Umbrator]

Hi all,

I have read the following so far:

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper' by Phillip Sugden.
The Complete Jack the Ripper by Donald Rumbelow
The Jack the Ripper Sourcebook By Keith Skinner & Stewart Evans
The Maybrick Diary
The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper

The Sugden book and the Sourcebook are my absolute faves.

I have been looking at CSI Whitechapel. It looks very interesting and has got great reviews. I'm just wondering if there are any others that I could consider.
I'm looking at something a bit different from the ones I have already read as a lot cover the same ground.

Great site, look forward to learning more about this fascinating case.

Hi, Rack,

Welcome to casebook. As Rosella and Richard mentioned, 'Letters from Hell' by Stewart P. Evans and Keith Skinner is an interesting book. It contains transcriptions of pretty much all the letters collected by the PRO and the LPO, along with plenty of colour facsimiles of them, too. There's a solid discussion regarding the general circumstances involved in the generation of these letters and a highly educational chapter regarding Donald McCormicks work in this particular field.

'When London Walked in Terror' by Tom A. Cullen, although outdated in some of its information and sources, is a quality volume written in the old style with good footnotes, bibliography and fairly comprehensive index. Certainly a worthy addition to a ripper library.

Yours, Caligo.

[Cogidubnus]

If you really want something a little different, how about a work which looks initially at the earlier non-canonical murders and subsequently, through them, challenges conventional thinking on the whole series? I refer to Tom Wescott's excellent "The Bank Holiday Murders"...

All the best

Dave

[Rack the Jipper]

Thanks everyone. I am waiting on CSI Whitechapel. Will also order Letters from Hell and The Bank Holiday Murders in a couple weeks. Look forward to them all.

[Rack the Jipper]

CSI came todau Looks quality

[Caligo Umbrator]

Hi, Rack.

Another book, which helps to place the ripper murders into a somewhat broader and perhaps more human context, is ' Jack the Ripper - the Forgotten Victims' by Paul Begg and John Bennett. As the title suggests, its main focus is on those ladies who met unfortunate and untimely ends at the hands of murderers, other than Jack and whose deaths bracketed the 'canonical five'.
Its well researched and offers more than just a taste of the squalid lives these people endured, in some cases painting a fuller picture of these women than we have of the ripper victims themselves. It also has a concise but well worded first chapter that draws the reader into the east-end of the late1880's, weaving a social and political tapestry against which the events in the book can be better visualized.

I fully recommend this. It covers much new ground and , while at times a little heavy with the facts, it also isn't lacking in its colourful depiction of the the busy hustle and bustle that occurred in the heart of the empire.

Yours, Caligo.