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59th out of 314 books
—
437 voters
The Complete History of Jack the Ripper
Structured around meticulous and exhaustive research into the original documentary evidence--police and home office files; inquest papers; court, prison, and hospital archives; and parish and genealogical records--this important new book includes much new and hitherto neglected material, presented in a clear and easy-to-follow style.
Paperback, 532 pages
Published
2006
by Robinson
(first published 1994)
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If you are interested in Jack the Ripper but don't have the time to wade through all the material on him, just read this book. It's a comprehensive study of the Ripper murders and the best book written on the subject, in my opinion. Sugden is one of the few Ripperologists who is also a trained historian, and he puts his skills to good work here, dissecting the available evidence. Also, unlike many other Ripper writers, he's not trying to propogate one "solution" theory or another -- he simply pr...more
So many pot-boiler books have been written on the Ripper murders, it seems best to point out one that is actually worth reading.
Sugden's book is unusual, inasmuch as he has no solution to offer and no murderer to finger. He does give convincing reasons why the three lead suspects for one reason or another don't fit the bill as the offender, and concedes that "there is every possibility that the man the Victorians called 'the master murderer of the age' was in reality a complete nobody whose name...more
Sugden's book is unusual, inasmuch as he has no solution to offer and no murderer to finger. He does give convincing reasons why the three lead suspects for one reason or another don't fit the bill as the offender, and concedes that "there is every possibility that the man the Victorians called 'the master murderer of the age' was in reality a complete nobody whose name...more
I have seen this book hailed far and wide since it first appeared in 1995, and having just read the latest edition (Carroll & Graf/Robinson Publishing, 2002), I must side with those who call this the best book on the subject. Sugden has examined all of the available primary materials himself, uncovering some material that had hitherto been overlooked. As a result, his analysis of possible suspects, the number of murders that can be reasonably claimed for "Jack", and the reliability of severa...more
Is there anything new to say about Jack the Ripper and the infamous 1888 Whitechapel Murders? Well, yes, there is, and Philip Sugden has said it. Most Ripper books suffer from two principle weaknesses: first, they set out to make a case for a favoured and predetermined suspect, and second, they exist in a close, almost incestuous relationship one with the other. That is to say that they are secondary works based on secondary works, which means that when errors appear they are rarely questioned,...more
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First let me state the categories of people who should (please note the emphasis) study (not 'read') this book: -
1. Anybody who is interested in the any or all of the following: the Whitechapel killings, the subsequent frenzy, investigation into the murders, armchair investigations by "Mycroft" wannabes, and the literally literary witch-hunt being carried out over the past century & more to "unmask" the killer;
2. Anybody who is interested in understanding the socio-economic dynamics of the w...more
1. Anybody who is interested in the any or all of the following: the Whitechapel killings, the subsequent frenzy, investigation into the murders, armchair investigations by "Mycroft" wannabes, and the literally literary witch-hunt being carried out over the past century & more to "unmask" the killer;
2. Anybody who is interested in understanding the socio-economic dynamics of the w...more
Als ein erster Einstieg über die Whitchapel Morde ist Sugdens Buch fast ideal.
Er betrachtet die Quellen recht objektiv und wiederlegt den mittlerweile wildesten Verschwörungstheorien logisch und deutlich mit den vorhandenen Beweisen. Dazu schafft er mit den Biographien der Beteiligten (Opfer wie auch Verdächtige und Ermittler) ein gutes Bild des viktorianischen Londons.
Für die Beschreibungen der Morde sollte man sich auf harten Tobak gefasst machen, denn Sudgen geht mit den gerichtsmedizinisch...more
Er betrachtet die Quellen recht objektiv und wiederlegt den mittlerweile wildesten Verschwörungstheorien logisch und deutlich mit den vorhandenen Beweisen. Dazu schafft er mit den Biographien der Beteiligten (Opfer wie auch Verdächtige und Ermittler) ein gutes Bild des viktorianischen Londons.
Für die Beschreibungen der Morde sollte man sich auf harten Tobak gefasst machen, denn Sudgen geht mit den gerichtsmedizinisch...more
I've always wanted to read a book which gave all the true informations about the Whitechapel murders just for the sake of it, and not for using them to sustain a highly unrealistic theory. This book is completely objective, it only tells the truth. It has everything one wants to know about Jack the Ripper, and I mean literally everything: it is absolutely objective and accurate and yet easy to follow and not boring at all. I liked how in the last part the author considered the most likely suspec...more
"The Complete History Of Jack The Ripper" was a fascinating look at everything related to the horrific murders attributable to Jack the Ripper. Over one hundred years later, the legend of Jack the Ripper is still as perplexing as it was in the days when mutilated bodies kept turning up in the London area, Whitehall. I've always been intrigued by the facts surrounding what many claim is the first serial killer. What was so fascinating about this book was how the author looked at each murder from...more
The first part of this book is a close examination of the Ripper murders and victims. The second part is a close look at possible suspects. I found it all very interesting, and especially liked that the author was making every attempt at critically assessing each piece of evidence. In the end, he doesn't come out and declare who the Ripper was (another thing I liked). Instead he presents all the evidence and is very clear in saying that even the suspect that is the best match has only circumstan...more
Not the best written, or indeed the best researched of all the Jack the Ripper books out there, but by no means the worst either. The text is a bit out of date now, and despite my having the 'new revised' edition, I didn't encounter any new theories.
What it is, is a reasonably good summary of the case, with a fairly interesting look at four key suspects.The author appears to have done little primary research of his own, but does do a credible job of collating the research of others, and is excel...more
What it is, is a reasonably good summary of the case, with a fairly interesting look at four key suspects.The author appears to have done little primary research of his own, but does do a credible job of collating the research of others, and is excel...more
I did a lot of research on Jack the Ripper books before buying one. This one had the best reviews, so I went with it. GREAT decision. This book is amazing. Well written, well researched.... a great account of the horrific acts of the first famous serial killer. I never realized how horrid his slayings were. After reading this book, it is not hard to understand why his infamy has carried on for so long. If you have even the slightest interest in Jack the Ripper or even true crime. Do yourself a f...more
I thought this book was rather informative, but very repetitive. I seem to be choosing books that contain a lot of pieces of various authors; "What this person wrote about this in his book.." Please, if you can stick to the facts as you know them, I can read that other guy's book later.I'm glad I read this on Kindle because there are way too many uncommon words throughout this book, seriously, Mr. Sugden has probably waited years to use words like"Pernicious" which means "Harmful" or "Vituperati...more
Philip Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper is widely considered to be the best single-volume history of the Whitechapel murders, and with good reason. Sugden is not only intimately familiar with the details of the case thanks to his own painstaking personal research (some of which is presented here for the first time), but he's also conversant with the many works that preceded his study. As he recounts those facts we know and those bits of contemporary evidence that contradict each...more
I'll start by saying this is not light reading. It is packed with the tiniest of details, things that don't have anything to do with the Ripper case. I, however, like this as it makes that time come alive. It makes it easy to place yourself at the scene.
Author Philip Sugden has done a really good job compiling his information, but at times I got the impression that he maybe looks down a little on people who write fiction about the Ripper. He seems to have a problem with making the facts fit int...more
Author Philip Sugden has done a really good job compiling his information, but at times I got the impression that he maybe looks down a little on people who write fiction about the Ripper. He seems to have a problem with making the facts fit int...more
I blame the previous book I was reading, 1888: London Murders in the Year of the Ripper - after reading about every murder in 1888 but those of Jack the Ripper...well, I thought I'd fill in the blanks.
I have read this book before, and it's one of the best general-purpose introductions to the Ripper murders out there. It's a little dated by now, originally published in 1994, but I'd definitely recommend it still. It doesn't try to push a particular angle or suspect, the author doesn't have a pet...more
I have read this book before, and it's one of the best general-purpose introductions to the Ripper murders out there. It's a little dated by now, originally published in 1994, but I'd definitely recommend it still. It doesn't try to push a particular angle or suspect, the author doesn't have a pet...more
I found this book to be very informative! Everything, literally everything, that you would ever care to know (and in some cases, not know) about the Whitechapel murders and their subsequent investigations. Sugden has put a lot of time and effort into researching this dark period of Victorian England history and it shows.
I loved that Sugden included the biographies of each of the five canonical murders, as well as the biographies of three more women who may or may not have been victims of Jack th...more
I loved that Sugden included the biographies of each of the five canonical murders, as well as the biographies of three more women who may or may not have been victims of Jack th...more
I have read dozens of books on Jack the Ripper over the years, and this is by far the best. Philip Sugden refutes many of the myths surrounding the Whitechapel murders and uses primary sources to find out the facts. His research goes further than any other ripperologist and I found out many new things about the case, which I didn't think possible considering how many JTR books I have read. In terms of the suspects, he covers the original three that the police suspected of the murders, but few ot...more
I recommend this book to anyone who wants to know more about the Whitechapel murders and Jack the Ripper. The author sticks to the facts, which is essential in this kind of book. There is a lot of misinformation out there, but this book seems very scholarly and trustworthy.
This book is very detailed, and thus has very detailed descriptions. I have the ebook version, which doesn't include illustrations or photographs. That's probably a good thing, because I accidentally saw the murder scene photo...more
This book is very detailed, and thus has very detailed descriptions. I have the ebook version, which doesn't include illustrations or photographs. That's probably a good thing, because I accidentally saw the murder scene photo...more
Probably all most people need to know about the Whitechapel murders and Jack the Ripper. Extremely in-depth and the author returns to original sources rather than regurgitates what other books have said, correcting numerous fallacies that have masquerated as fact for many many years. At times the book can be a little slow due to the variety of info, at least it was for me as a casual Ripper student, but it's well-worth a read. It's especially nice that the author has no pet theory on the murdere...more
If anyone wants to read the one, best book on the Whitechapel Murders this is it. He does discuss some of the main suspects at the end but it is not focussed on that aspect, and benefits from a clear historical eye coming to it as a historian not a Ripperologist (not that there aren't commendable works by those.) He hasn't written anything else since it seems on any topic which is disappointing.
Really good read on a very interesting topic. It is a long book, but I never lost interest. And it is possible to put it down for a while (when the murder details get a little too gruesome) and pick up right where you left off.
I thought the author's ability to clear away the myths and misinformation surrounding the killer was especially interesting and well done.
If you have any interest in Jack the Ripper, this is the book you should read.
I thought the author's ability to clear away the myths and misinformation surrounding the killer was especially interesting and well done.
If you have any interest in Jack the Ripper, this is the book you should read.
Very interesting and comprehensive analysis of the Jack the Ripper murders in the Whitechapel area of London in the late 1880s. This book has lots of maps, and gruesome crime scene/autopsy photos of the victims. It goes very in-depth around each of the victims, and examines several possibilities of who Jack could have been.
This was by far the best book on Jack the Ripper I have ever read. Fiction is great, I like fiction. But sometimes it's so nice to have facts instead. And the fact that the author never once claims to know who Jack the Ripper was is very refreshing. I don't think I really want to know, I mean where's the mystery in that?
For a book on Jack the Ripper it is the one. If you want to know EVRYTHING from the top to the bottom, what underwear the victims were wearing, EXACTLY the position they were found in, their life history up to the point of their exit then this book will do it. For what it is it is excellent, I just couldn't handle that much depth to the subject, I guess I wasn't really that interested after all!
If you're looking for something sensationalistic, look elsewhere. Don't get me wrong, I love a great Ripper conspiracy theory as much as the next girl, but what I really adored about this book was the fact that it relied on facts. Not only did the book cover the murders commonly attributed to the Ripper but crimes that MAY have been his doing. It went through the common suspects, the common theories, and it debunked a great many of them with cool logic. A completely worthwhile read for amateur a...more
An almost unbelievably exhaustive study of the most famous murder mystery of all time. There's no bias here towards the authors favourite suspect and it's all the better for it. The attention to detail regarding times, dates, locations etc can make your head spin a bit at times but this is an excellent book on a fascinating subject. No definitive answers I'm afraid but you will at least have all the facts.
Really enjoyed this book as a fairly objective view of the evidence. He puts forward what was known and looks at theories without espousing one himself. Interesting to read something about the victims' life, not just their deaths.
Amazingly detailed and yet, not overly dry. Sugden doesn't have a pet theory. He simply wants to get the facts straight. His only flaw is in criticizing other Ripper authors a bit to frequently. He can come off as petty.
This book nearly exhausts everything history can give about Jack the Ripper and it pays off. There aren't any strange, over the top theories about who Ripper was, instead he presents historic archives as evidence, gives you a possible suspect list and lets you decide which to believe. There are no straight answers, but he does debate on some of the popular theories. It gets rather confusing though when you read other Ripper books or watch Ripper movies or documentaries because they all start con...more
Undeniably authoritative but not the best read. Designed for the buff who is already familiar with the case and full of irrelevant facts (e.g., the birth dates of the siblings of he victims???)
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| Goodreads Librari...: Page Numbers missing | 4 | 45 | Jan 30, 2012 03:47pm |
(Strindberg, A Life and Algeria, France's Undeclared War both ready BTW.) I love off the beat subje...more
Jun 21, 2012 01:07am