New book - 'The Five' by Hallie Robenhold.

[MrBarnett]

Hi Herlock

I understand that despite Ms Rubenhold's criticism of Ripperologists on her Twitter account, the book does reference a number of the sources one would expect, such as Begg, Rumbelow, etc.

Cheers

Chris

And Debra Arif, Tom Wescott, Neal Shelden, Mike Covell, various Casebook dissertations, Casebook Examiner, Ripperologist and Ripperana mags... and much more from the wider field of Ripperology.

While writing her book she was up to her elbows in what she now calls the ‘dung heap’.

She cites three of Paul Begg’s books, but has blocked him from asking awkward questions on her Twitter account.

[MrBarnett]

She maybe here as Mistress H. Abberline and Hailie Poirot too.

Could be. One of her acolytes, following her lead in rubbishing Casebook, made a big deal out of some of the user names on the site. One sicko apparently uses the name ‘MrBarnett’.

Hang on! That’s me - perhaps I should stop using the name on my birth cert and start calling myself ‘Mr Detective’ or something similar.

[Robert]

I've checked the membership list for Hallie Tosis, but not a sausage.

[ChrisGeorge]

I don't recall anyone here using this as an excuse to question her abilities. I assumed the error in the montage was down to a BBC researcher's error, and wrote to them in like vein.

I don't glorify the Ripper. In fact, I couldn't care less about the hunt for the Ripper. I don't think at this point we'll ever know who it was.

No what fascinates me is the whole era and exploring the side alleys of the case which to me are more fascinating than who did the crimes.

Take that Ms Rubenhold, if you care.

[ChrisGeorge]

Could be. One of her acolytes, following her lead in rubbishing Casebook, made a big deal out of some of the user names on the site. One sicko apparently uses the name ‘MrBarnett’.

Hang on! That’s me - perhaps I should stop using the name on my birth cert and start calling myself ‘Mr Detective’ or something similar.

While we're at it, we'll hound Robert Anderson off the boards, too.

[MrBarnett]

While we're at it, we'll hound Robert Anderson off the boards, too.

I used to work with an old boy named Jack Rippe. TF he’s not a Ripperologist.

[ChrisGeorge]

Aaaaaaaargh!

HMH Books @HMHbooks

“By restoring “the five” to humanity and dignity," @HallieRubenhold's THE FIVE "becomes a passionate indictment of the true-crime genre, with its fixation on the minds of murderers & its shallow, glancing sympathy for the dead.” @JC_Scutts @washingtonpost

wapo.st/30Z9aBI

[ChrisGeorge]

As I noted earlier, this author appears to want to take a romantic approach to these women who were living the lives of the lowest of the low.

And it doesn't work... although I suspect she will hoodwink some readers into thinking what she has written about the five is true. It is not.

.

Where exactly does she get this stuff --

.

The victims "lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers." (Quoted in the blurb on her from today's event in Hay-on-Wye http://www.hayfestival.com/p-15405-h...rubenhold.aspx.)

This is sheer fantasy, Ms Rubenhold! It in no way corresponds to the lives of the victims under discussion.

[MrBarnett]

As I noted earlier, this author appears to want to take a romantic approach to these women who were living the lives of the lowest of the low.

And it doesn't work... although I suspect she will hoodwink some readers into thinking what she has written about the five is true. It is not.

.

Where exactly does she get this stuff --

.

The victims "lived on country estates, they breathed ink-dust from printing presses and escaped people-traffickers." (Quoted in the blurb on her from today's event in Hay-on-Wye http://www.hayfestival.com/p-15405-h...rubenhold.aspx.)

This is sheer fantasy, Ms Rubenhold! It in no way corresponds to the lives of the victims under discussion.

Chris,

Have you finished the book?

It would be great to hear the specific issues you have with it.

Gary

[jmenges]

In today's Guardian:

A historian who has told the true story of Jack the Ripper’s victims has spoken of the “offensive”, “stupid” and almost “laughable” trolling she has received from Ripperologists.

Hallie Rubenhold said she had even been compared to Holocaust denier David Irving for her book, in which she challenges the traditional narrative that the murdered women were all sex workers.

It should come as no surprise to find out that this supposed comparison to David Irving is untrue. But she does like repeating it every chance that she gets.

Here is what was really said about David Irving and Hallie Rubenhold on Rippercast's review of 'The Five'.

http://www.rippercast.com/mp3/Histor..._Rubenhold.mp3

JM

[Sam Flynn]

It should come as no surprise to find out that this supposed comparison to David Irving is untrue.

As that podcast clip you posted makes abundantly clear.

[PaulB]

I wrote in my a recent Ripperologist review which Rubenhold read, 'On a recent podcast, Mark Ripper pointed out that in a book called Telling Lies About Hitler the very distinguished historian Richard J Evans listed a series of things that he says 'reputable and professional historians do not do', and topping that list is that they do not 'suppress parts of quotations from documents that go against their own case...’ Evans‘s book was about the Holocaust denier David lrving, and Mark Ripper was obviously at pains to make it clear that he wasn't drawing any comparisons between lrving and Rubenhold, the former being in an altogether different league!'

There seems no excuse for repeating this claim.

[Herlock Sholmes]

I wrote in my a recent Ripperologist review which Rubenhold read, 'On a recent podcast, Mark Ripper pointed out that in a book called Telling Lies About Hitler the very distinguished historian Richard J Evans listed a series of things that he says 'reputable and professional historians do not do', and topping that list is that they do not 'suppress parts of quotations from documents that go against their own case...’ Evans‘s book was about the Holocaust denier David lrving, and Mark Ripper was obviously at pains to make it clear that he wasn't drawing any comparisons between lrving and Rubenhold, the former being in an altogether different league!'

There seems no excuse for repeating this claim.

https://amp.theguardian.com/uk-news/...llie-rubenhold

Paul, can I ask if you intend to write a response to The Guardian? If a newspaper is interested in ‘fairness’ a response should be allowed. This is a terrible article and the public shouldn’t accept it unchallenged.

[PaulB]

Hi Herlock,
I agree that Hallie Rubenhold shouldn't go unchallenged, but unfortunately a response would be playing into her hands as she's clearly after the publicity. The fact is that very little she complains about is real, and she'll quickly crash as soon as people realise that. which I'm sure they will.

[Herlock Sholmes]

Hi Herlock,
I agree that Hallie Rubenhold shouldn't go unchallenged, but unfortunately a response would be playing into her hands as she's clearly after the publicity. The fact is that very little she complains about is real, and she'll quickly crash as soon as people realise that. which I'm sure they will.

Hello Paul,

You could be right of course. I’d have gone straight into ‘rottweiler’ mode.