Uncovering Jack the Ripper's London [Hardcover]

Anyone interested in "Jack the Ripper" will surely find this book to be of interest. As a matter of fact, I found it more interesting than any of the previous books I have read about this most famous of all murderers. Each of those books had a story to tell and something to prove, but, although convincing, they didn't necessarily tell the whole story or perhaps even the real story. This book takes a different tack, it simply takes you back to the streets of the Whitechapel District of London in the 1880's and lets you walk with and listen to those who lived there, many of whom were prostitutes living on the streets in fear for their lives.

You will also get to meet and follow the police as they examine the evidence, strive to dampen panic and suppress riots, and struggle to find the killer. In the process you'll likely discover that the police weren't as incompetent and inept as we have been led to believe. On the contrary, you will see that they were up against an almost impossible task - finding an illusive butcher who struck in the dead of night; a man whose ghastly work was made easier for him, and the police's work much more difficult, by the simple fact that his victims willingly led him to the dark and secluded alleyways and darkened yards where he butchered them. You will also find that the problems of the police were compounded by the fact that this all took place in a part of London where, due to the numerous slaughter houses and butcher shops resident in the area, the sight of bloody hands and bloody clothes on the streets was an everyday and every night occurrence.

I approached this book having already read three earlier books about "Jack" each purporting to identify the real villain. And, I must say, until I read each succeeding book, I was firmly convinced that the previous man must surely have been the killer. I finally concluded that only two separate and completely unrelated men were the lone killer (although my favorite of the two has presumably been discredited by the "experts"). Of course, that was a somewhat unsatisfactory result. But with so many potential villains floating around, I naturally found this book to be of particular interest. Would any of these killers, I wondered, hold up under closer, and less biased, scrutiny?

Oddly enough, none of my suspects were even mentioned in this book, and, stranger still, much of the evidence which pointed in their directions appears to have had little or no significance to the case. For example: poisoned grapes - none were found; royal coaches - none were mentioned by any witnesses; "doctor's" black bag - the bag was owned by a man who was hurrying home and just happened to be passing the murder scene (he later identified himself to the police); coins and/or body parts arranged in some ritual fashion - coins were found at one murder scene, but neither coins nor body parts were arranged in any particular way, etc.

So, if you are a Jack the Ripper addict, this book might change your mind on a thing or two, and, if you have a pet Ripper suspect, it may disillusion you a bit. But, if you don't know much about the case, it will surely whet your appetite to know more, and it's as close as you're likely to get to the real story of the Whitechapel murders. As for me, I'm sticking with my suspect until someone can convince me otherwise.

What London resident could ever have imagined that the monstrous deeds of a maniac in 1888 would endure for over 100 years? Yet here is is the latest - but certainly not the last - book to chronicle the doings of history's most famous serial killer. Author Richard Jones takes a slightly different tack however in focusing on re-creating the London scene wherein Jack the Ripper did his dirty deeds rather than just recounting the deeds themselves.

Jones' volume is part history, part travel guide to London's East End circa 1888. Using contemporary press acounts, period photographs and present-day images, he does an excellent job of immersing the reader in life in the East End and the effect "Jack" - assuming there was only one murderer! - had on its residents. He very wisely, in my opinion, doesn't spend time running through 'the usual suspects' but concentrates on portraying how terrible life was for East End residents even before the Ripper started stalking its dark and filthy streets.

All in all, a fresh and interesting look at murderous times long ago. Ripper fans will enjoy.

This book could have been a lot better (more photographs and less text, for example) but it it is still a respectable effort and I'm not sorry I bought it.

The pictures, both the old and new, are all very good. I have seen the majority of them elsewhere but the reproductions here are large and of very good quality. The newer ones (By Sean East, I gather) are superb.

I found the text had little to offer, but then this book is not intended to be a scholarly work about the crimes of Jack the Ripper, rather a look at the environment in which the crimes took place. That being recognized, however, I would have to say that the chapters on the 'Ripper letters' and the suspects could easily have been omitted. Given the title, I thought them rather superfluous.

My only real criticism of this book, and the reason I did not award a fourth star, is that the photographs provided have almost no annotations. For this to be a useful reference work, I would like to know, with as much accuracy as possible, the origins of each picture with particular mention of the date they were taken. Is the photo of the Working Lad's Institute (for example) as it appeared in the 1880's or, say, in 1912? The authors should really take this criticism to heart should they decide to release a new edition at some point.