Philip Sugden

[The Grave Maurice]

I am, as I imagine many of us are, a great admirer of Philip Sugden. He is the author of what is, in my opinion, the finest book yet written on JtR, but I know absolutely nothing about him, except that he is described as a professional historian. Every once in a while I Google his name and find nothing but references to his book. I also check lists of British academics whenever possible but, again, zilch.

Does anyone know anything about him? Where he went to school? Where he teaches (taught)? What his usual area of study is? What attracted his attention to JtR?

Any information gratefully received.

[Stewart P Evans]

Philip Sugden

I met Phil Sugden 14 years ago and he proved to be a true friend and wise adviser. He is a couple of years older than me and is an academic, he was once a teacher. He has assisted his brother Dr. John Sugden with his books, notably his comprehensive biography of Horatio Nelson. Phil has no real ongoing interest in the Ripper, his book being one of his historical research projects. He is more interested in the 18th century. He has completed another book that will hopefully see publication soon. He worked at Hull University.

[Mike Covell]

Mr Sugdens book was one of the first Ripper books I read cover to cover. It certainly is a great read and quite fluid, in that once you start, your halfway through before you know it.

[The Grave Maurice]

Thank you very much, Stewart. That's certainly more than I knew about Philip yesterday. I'll keep an eye out for books by John, on the assumption that talent runs in the family, and I look forward to Philip's new book. As Mike says, he is an interesting and compelling writer---traits that are not all that common among historians.

[Baron Von Chambers]

I must agree with this, as far as I'm concerned The Complete History of Jack the Ripper is one of the finest books I've ever read, really helped me when I first started researching the case and in part I kind of owe my interest in it to Philip Sugden.

By the way, Stewart, I' am a great admirer of your work. Would love to discuss with you at some point

[Stewart P Evans]

Thank You

By the way, Stewart, I' am a great admirer of your work. Would love to discuss with you at some point

Thank you for the kind words.

[belinda]

Philip Sugdens book is definently one of the best Every time I go back to it I always seem to learn something new!

I actually have two editions

Stewart please pass on to him my thanks for his book. It cleared up alot of mistakes I'd picked up. The first book I read on the Ripper was by Peter Underwood and it was not as accurate as it could have been.
It would be wonderful if he would consider doing another update on the book when he has a chance.

It's actually very hard to get Ripper books in Australia apparently there's "Not enough interest"!

I also admire your work too

[The Grave Maurice]

John Sugden

PBS just broadcast a show about the War of 1812. The interesting thing for our purposes was that John Sugden was on it, in part because of his book about Tecumseh. John was very good. Not only was he informative...he can sing. (But I still wish he'd brought his brother with him.)

[Tom_Wescott]

Why wasn't Chris George in it? And has Philip published a book since his 'JTR' tome?

Yours truly,

Tom Wescott

[Archaic]

Hi everyone.

Ken, thank you for asking these questions about Mr. Sugden! Like the rest of you I've always admired his work and wanted to know a little more about him.

I'm going to look for that 1812 documentary on the PBS website- was it the show 'American Experience'? Many excellent PBS docs are available for viewing on their website, pbs.org. Here's the link: http://www.pbs.org/

I'll have to look for John Sugden's book on Tecumseh. He's a fascinating subject for research; an historically prominent Native American leader that is for some strange reason too little known even by scholars of American History. Sadly, most people think 'Tecumseh' is just General Sherman's rather unusual middle name.

So there's another book for my Amazon Wish List!

Thanks everybody,
Archaic

[Adam Went]

Sugden's was my first Ripper book. IMO it's a downright shame that such an obviously talented individual has more or less nothing to do with the JTR case beyond the publication of his work, we could do with more like him.

Cheers,
Adam.

[Haskins]

Philip Sugden's book is The Book in my opinion. Along with the A to Z it is essential reading for anyone who is curious to know what really happened. I wasn't totally convinced by Sugden's choice of most likely suspect, even though he did go to great lengths to stress that there wasn't enough evidence to be sure.

But it was a much needed book after all the fanciful theories that abounded through the 70's, 80's and 90's.