The Complete History of Jack the Ripper

The book is essentially a comprehensive gathering together of evidence. The author does an excellent job of explaining where common assumptions are false, whether made up by newspapers, or just part of folklore. A lot of the book is made up of chapters which discuss the individual murders and circumstances surrounding them and the author makes his own tentative and uninfluenced conclusion at the end. Towards the end of the book we then see chapters on possible suspects and the evidence and circumstances are discussed. The author then discusses, on balance, how likely it is that the suspect is Jack the Ripper. No one of course truly knows who Jack the Ripper was and I am glad the author doesn't really assert anything. His conclusion at the climax of the book simply states that X is probably the "least unlikely to be Jack the Ripper". I found this so refreshing, where other studies have an agenda and seem to try and make the evidence fit. A prime example was a relatively recent BBC documentary (Jack the Ripper - Case Reopened). Using modern technique they attempted to persuade that the Ripper was almost certainly Kosminski. The main evidence was tarted up a bit but seemed to boil down to the fact that he lived in Whitechapel. They also used descriptions given of Kosminski and compared them with witness descriptions of the Ripper but were picking and choosing and ignoring at will to suit their conclusion. They also concluded that it must be Kosminski because the murders stopped when he went into an asylum in 1888. In this book Sugden researches further and clarifies that he was committed in 1892, not 1888, also he was a sickly 7 stone (not the stocky figure the Ripper witnesses described). Sugden also explains that Kosminski was a lunatic but not deemed violent or murderous by his carers/doctors and his insanity manifested itself in a refusal to work, a habit of eating out of the gutter and reluctance to clean himself. This is just one example of many where I was impressed by the author's veracity and absolute dedication to the facts. There were no assumptions, no stones unturned, just a pure analysis of what can possibly be known. No evidence is taken as gospel, witness statements are scrutinised and the police are criticised and praised where it is right to do so. I found this refreshingly intelligent and it means we have a comprehensive textbook on the Ripper, in the form of this book, that generations can read without being unnecessarily influenced in one way or another. 100% recommended.

Quite simply the definitive work on the subject of the Whitechapel murders. This book grips you from the off and then just doesn’t let you go. Historical and informative but most importantly, not speculative. Concentrating only on the facts this book clearly explains what happened, when it happened but not necessarily why or by whom. You would imagine that living through these times the Whitechapel community would be living a life of pure fear and terror, but I get the impression that for many life just carried on. Horrific murders in a horribly run down and depressed part of London with the killer never being brought to justice sets the tone for one of the greatest unsolved crimes in history. Personally my interest in the Ripper case is not about what he did but rather as to why the police never caught him. A chilling account of a unique time in British history that is so easy to read and follow I had difficulty in putting it down. If you’re curious about the Whitechapel murders and would like to learn more about them then this book is all you need. Remember, this book is not just about the gruesome details of the murders it also covers in great detail the police investigation and how it was carried out. Some would say amateurish, some would say clueless and chaotic, some would say they did the best they could with the resources and technology available to them at the time. So who was Jack the Ripper? It’s safe to say that that’s something we will never know.

It is astonishing that a relatively short series of brutal murders in the summer and autumn of 1888 should have rocked the British Empire, which was then at its apogee, and sent reverberations across the entire civilised world. The Ripper case was in the headlines from New York to Sydney, Australia and everywhere in between. The case was a factor in the resignation of a Home Secretary and even Queen Victoria herself expressed her personal concerns that the culprit was still at large despite a massive manhunt in the crowded and impoverished East End of London. Sugden's book is a masterly feat of scholarship. His stated aim is to avoid the sensationalist speculation that surround the Ripper myth and stick to what we know. His research through police files and court records is painfully meticulous and he tersely dismisses many previous authors whom he feels have taken liberties with the facts and presented specious hypotheses as regards the killings and their perpetrator. Sugden is even-handed and sober almost to the point of dryness at times, but the book remains a compelling read right the way through its 500 pages. The Ripper's murders were a turning point for two reasons. Firstly, though serial killings had no doubt taken place in the past the phenomenon had never been formally identified. The police were utterly impotent in the Whitechapel case because they were used to detecting criminals through tracing motives. Robbery, jealousy, vengeance - a purposive trail could usually be discovered. The Ripper murders were, to the Victorian mind, completely motiveless and inexplicable. Police work at the time was a simple affair that usually involved merely questioning witnesses and potential suspects. Though the adventures of one Sherlock Holmes were being serialised at the time there was no systematic criminal profiling, no DNA testing and though fingerprinting was extant the police had yet to take it seriously as a tool for detection. The best that could be done in the face of such mindless horror was to draft in a couple of bloodhounds. But in the warren that was East London even a bloodhound's nose is next to useless. After the Ripper case, police work began to evolve into the hard science that it is today. Secondly, the case threw the world's attention onto the appalling conditions obtaining in the slums of Whitechapel. This was a dark aspect of the industrial revolution the establishment hadn't wanted to acknowledge. The population had swarmed into the cities from their traditional rural abodes looking for work. The deprivations of this new urban trend called for changes in the way cities were administered. Planned Public Health measures such as clean water, sanitation and education came hot on the heels of the end of the 19th century. Alan Moore spun an excellent yarn out of the Whitechapel case in his graphic novel From Hell. The film adaption starring Johnny Depp does not, apparently, do the book justice but it contains this line: `one day men will look back and say I gave birth to the 20th century!' There is no record of Jack the Ripper ever having said this but it is a fascinating statement and to my mind says something astute about the case of 1888. It could be argued that what made, and continues to make, Jack the Ripper so enduring a monster is that he is a symbol and personification of the new sense of urban alienation that the industrial age had engendered. The advent of mass media had made the case a global drama and that too was new. Modernity itself had evolved human consciousness into something that was becoming recognisably who we are and how we think today. In that sense the Ripper murders really could be seen to symbolise a cultural milestone and turning point. In 1888 Freud was practising in Vienna and his work would revolutionise our understanding of our selves and our hidden motives. Nietzsche published both Twilight of the Idols and The Antichrist in 1888 before going insane the following year. In these texts he further trumpeted the death of God, the obsolescence of religion, and the redundancy of bourgeois morality. In my opinion there is room for a book about the myth of the Ripper case as a world historical event. Sugden's book gives us the facts. We now need an author to explicate the meaning.

This is a thick book that basically gives you the facts. The author, Sugden, lays it all out as in what happened, how the case was handled, the different suspects, the victims, the witnesses. They’re all talked about using reports and articles from the time. He does mention other authors and works, sometimes to point out how misguided or wrong they are and other times to say that’s where he got the information. It’s clear when he is telling you what happened or telling you what MAY have happened due to conflicting reports or lack of articles or whatever. He does not claim to know the identity of the Ripper and had not written the book to prove his idea. When he gives an opinion, which happened rarely, particularly in regards to suspects, he makes it clear it is his opinion based on what he’s researched. He leaves you to make your own mind. I use this book as a sort of Ripper dictionary to fact check other works. It’s a good read, though a long one, and because it is heavy into literally laying out simply what happened, it might be boring to some. I recommend to stick with it. It took me 3 attempts to read from start to finish, but I felt much more informed on the subject when I did. This is my second copy as I read and used my first one so much it fell apart. Highly recommend

I've always been fascinated by Jack the Ripper and of the crimes he committed without really knowing anything of the victims or how many he actually killed ...which to this day is still debatable. Having been brought up on seeing various movies claiming to be the definitive version and all varying widely off the mark as I now know, I wanted a factual account of the events and made this the first book on the subject that I bought (over a year ago now...this is a belated review but allows me to compare it to other books) and it's unquestionably one of the best. The writing is superb and takes you on a mentally stimulating picture of victorian London and of the hardship the residents of the East End had to endure on a daily basis. The facts given about each murder are presented in such a way you will not be able to put the book down - I read the whole thing in two days. Philip Sugden waits until the end to go into who he thinks is the most likely suspect (in his opinion) therefore leaving the rest of the book to present the facts as they should be read allowing the reader to make up his or her own mind. After reading this I think Martha Tabram should be included along with the canonical five and have my own reasons for including her. That's the best thing about this book - everyone will come away with an unbiased opinion of their own based on the facts that this brilliant book places before them. Highly recommended and having bought further books on the subject it remains the most impressive one I've read. It's also one of only a few books that shows a map of the area which you can refer back to; extremely helpful especially when reading about the night of Sept 30th. Why other books fail to include this simple (and obvious) visual reference escapes me - many books say this happened there then he went here via this way before turning up that way and then going back this way and he probably turned into this street without giving the reader any idea of where things were happening. After reading the stories of each victim and feeling that I've got to know a lot about them through the narrative of the book - they were innocent women after all, forced by desperation to walk the streets through no choice of their own just to get a bed for the night, this book shows to the reader the full horror of what Jack the Ripper did (showing photos of the victims taken at the mortuary and in the case of Mary Jane Kelly graphically showing the full savagery of the person the police were dealing with). The fact that nobody to this day knows his identity is just one reason for the continued fascination of something that happened over 120 years ago. If only Albert Cadosch had looked over the fence when he heard that thump history may have been re written.

would like to have scored it more. The murders and police investigation and social period are well described. However, time and again the author points out why other jack the ripper books are wrong and why his research is right, by chapter 6 the smug self congratulatory style just gets a bit too much and I found myself skipping these little slaps on the back to get to the next bit. he could just as easily have accomplished his aim by just stating the facts and sources as he does without tearing repeatedly into other peoples material. I have no doubt that he's right, but the blowing of his trumpet just gets a bit wearing. therefore, it's not as easy a read as it could have been and ends up getting bogged down in things when it could flow more easily.

I can highly recommend this book to anyone remotely interested in Jack the Ripper & The Whitechapel Murders. The author steers clear of the usual pitfalls of this subject in that he doesnt profess to have all the answers; he analyses the known facts and debunks, very clearly and with evidence to back this up, a lot of the myths that have accumulated over the last 120 years. True, he has his suspicions as to the identity of the murderer; but doesnt seek to make the evidence fit the suspect. This book is not for the squemish, the author goes into graphic detail on the full horror of the murders; including a full reproduction of all of the scene of crime and post-mortem examination reports. The author does an excellent job of bringing the victims "to life" in that he has researched the background of all the victims, this leaves the reader with a very good knowledge of who each victim was and their lives up until their untimely and grisly death. In summary, this is the best book i have read on the subject, and suggest that if you only read one book on the subject that you make it this one.

After hearing The Rest is History podcast singing its praises, I decided to buy this book. I’ve really enjoyed it and pretty much haven’t put it down since purchasing it. Peter Sugden gives a very objective view of the Jack the Ripper case.

O livro é uma análise séria, feita por historiador, dos crimes cometidos pelo assassino conhecido pela alcunha "Jack the Ripper". Philip Sugden utiliza documentos disponíveis nos jornais da época, em livros publicados sobre o assunto e nos inquéritos realizados para traçar uma luz sobre os crimes e a vida pregressa das vítimas. Foi um dos primeiros (senão exatamente) livros a trazer mapas de Whitechapel e esquemas dos locais dos assassinatos, cruciais para tentar entender como o assassino fugiu. Ao final, analisa os principais suspeitos, usando racionalidade, método e perspicácia. Não procura levar o leitor a concluir por "A"ou "B". É item essencial a quem busca entender o assunto, sem falácias ou teorias malucas.

It's a really good book to use for researching

Un testo indispensabile a chi muove i primi passi nello sconfinato terreno della ripperologia. Ottime ricostruzioni dei delitti, chiaramente spiegate le basi sulle quali i sospettati vennero inclusi nei files della polizia. Dopo averlo letto si ha un quadro decisamente completo di cosa fosse realmente successo in quel lontano autunno del 1888 a Londra

Ich hatte mir dieses Buch gekauft, um meine Englischkenntnisse auf die Probe zu stellen. Es ist sehr gut geschrieben und mein Schul Englisch, was allerdings über zwanzig Jahre her ist, reicht im grossen und ganzem vollkommen aus. Eim sehr gutes Buch.

Una de las obras más claras y que mejor resumen los crimenes de Jack el destripador, los distintos sospechosos, las vícitmas y los protagonistas de la época. Una pena que no se haya traducido al español. La mejor lectura para iniciarse en la temática ... y por cutro duros si la comprar para el kindle.