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Rupert’s Year In Books

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Rupert Matthews

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February 2010

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Rupert Matthews's Blog

TALK - Plagues, Pandemics and Covid 19

Yesterday I have my talk on "Plagues, Pandemics and Covid-19" to a History Club in Sussex via Zoom.

This is - inevitably - a fairly grim talk but fascinating nonetheless. And in the end it has a message of hope to us all. Humanity has survived far worse diseases than Covid-19. Have a look at this map of the spread of the Black Death across Europe. Up to half the people in Europe were wiped ou

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Rupert Matthews’s books

Average rating: 3.74 · 3,032 ratings · 407 reviews · 370 distinct works • Similar authors

	Titanic: The Tragic Story of the Ill-Fated Ocean Liner 4.31 avg rating — 291 ratings — published 2011 — 15 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror: Life during the reign of Victorian London's most brutal killer 3.85 avg rating — 213 ratings — 3 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Stalingrad: The Battle that Shattered Hitler's Dream of World Domination 3.86 avg rating — 196 ratings — published 2012 — 8 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Hitler : Military Commander 3.69 avg rating — 162 ratings — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror: Life During the Reign of Victorian London's Most Brutal Killer 3.78 avg rating — 154 ratings — published 2013 — 7 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Age of the Gladiators: Savagery & Spectacle in Ancient Rome 3.52 avg rating — 157 ratings — published 2004 — 12 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Wouldn't Want to Be a Mayan Soothsayer!: Fortunes You'd Rather Not Tell by Rupert Matthews (Goodreads Author), David Antram (Illustrator), David Salariya (Goodreads Author) (Created by) 3.94 avg rating — 119 ratings — 16 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Alien Encounters 3.48 avg rating — 126 ratings — published 2007 — 18 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	You Wouldn't Want to Be a Chicago Gangster! by Rupert Matthews (Goodreads Author), David Salariya (Goodreads Author) (Creator), Mark Bergin (Illustrator) 3.86 avg rating — 94 ratings — published 2010 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
	Sasquatch: True-Life Encounters with Legendary Ape-Men 3.64 avg rating — 95 ratings — published 2008 — 6 editions	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars

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Rupert Matthews rated a book really liked it Ultimatum by Frank Gardner	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Very topical right now [March 2026] as this book concerns a covert military operation in Iran with the Revolutionary Guard as the main opponents of our gallant hero. I'm no great expert on Iran, but the background is credibly sketched in regarding cu ...more
Mar 10, 2026 02:57AM · like · see review
Rupert Matthews rated a book liked it The Frozen People (Ali Dawson #1) by Elly Griffiths (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Certainly an odd book - it combines a whodunnit with science fiction and time travel. I'm not sure it is entirely successful at blending all this together, but its a pretty good read. So the whodunnit aspect is rather slight. The murder we are suppos ...more
Mar 05, 2026 01:21AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — The Frozen People by Elly Griffiths <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rupert Matthews rated a book really liked it the islamic renaissance by Ahmadiyyat	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
An interesting enough book, but rather over detailed for my taste. The title tells you what this book is about, but it takes the name of the publisher to let you know that this is a religious book written by devotees of the faith. That said, it is cl ...more
Mar 04, 2026 11:41AM · like · see review
Rupert Matthews rated a book did not like it The Job by Douglas Kennedy (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Oh dear. I'm afraid I didn't finish this book. In fact I struggled to get to page 100. I wanted to give it a chance but eventually I just couldn't face picking it up to read any more. Just as well I got it for 50p at a church fete. I wouldn't have wa ...more
Mar 02, 2026 11:44AM · like · see review
Rupert Matthews rated a book really liked it Venus in Copper (Marcus Didius Falco, #3) by Lindsey Davis	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I really enjoyed this book. A great whodunnit set in ancient Rome, so it ticked a lot of my boxes even before it got started. Obviously looking for historical bloopers is part of the fun in reading historical novels, but I could see very few in this ...more
Feb 27, 2026 09:23AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Venus in Copper by Lindsey Davis <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rupert Matthews rated a book liked it Transcendence My Spiritual Experiences with Pramukh Swamiji by A.P.J. Abdul Kalam	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Well this was a fascinating book, but not really for me I'm afraid. The author was an Indian aerospace scientist and 11th President of India (2002–2007). In writing this book he rather takes for granted that you know a lot about India, its government ...more
Feb 18, 2026 05:05AM · like · see review
Rupert Matthews rated a book liked it The Midden by Tom Sharpe	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
I haven't read a Tom Sharpe book in decades. My memory of them from my youth was that they were uproariously funny, acutely observed satire and broad farce of ingenious plotlines, great characters and hilarious jokes. Either this is not a very good S ...more
Feb 14, 2026 05:52AM · like · see review
Rupert Matthews rated a book really liked it 2017 War with Russia: An Urgent Warning from Senior Military Command by Richard Shirreff	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A gripping thriller about a near-future show down between Russia and the west. Written in 2016, this book peers into the near future at a likely scenario for a war with Russia. Not giving too much away but the author envisages a successful invasion o ...more
Jan 30, 2026 10:05AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of 2017 War with Russia by Richard Shirreff. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — 2017 War with Russia by Richard Shirreff <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rupert Matthews rated a book it was amazing Assignata: Forged of Sand and Steel by D. C. Trewartha	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
A cracking adventure novel set in a fantasy world of swords, science fiction and medieval barbarity. As with all fantasy novels, the first task for the reader is to understand the world and society where the novel is set. In this novel, this slowly u ...more
Jan 25, 2026 05:20AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Assignata by D. C. Trewartha. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Assignata by D. C. Trewartha <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">
Rupert Matthews rated a book really liked it Over My Dead Body (William Warwick #4) by Jeffrey Archer (Goodreads Author)	Error rating book. Refresh and try again. Rate this book Clear rating 1 of 5 stars 2 of 5 stars 3 of 5 stars 4 of 5 stars 5 of 5 stars
Another good, dependable thriller from Jeffrey Archer. The characters are believable and engage the sympathies really easily. Plenty of twists and turns in the plot to keep you guessing right to the end about what is going to happen. So, if you fancy ...more
Jan 25, 2026 04:52AM · like · see review · preview book See a Problem? We’d love your help. Let us know what’s wrong with this preview of Over My Dead Body by Jeffrey Archer. Problem: Details (if other): Thanks for telling us about the problem. Not the book you’re looking for? Preview — Over My Dead Body by Jeffrey Archer <iframe sandbox id="wrongBookKindlePreviewScreen">

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Quotes by Rupert Matthews (?)

“Outsiders might mistake the East Enders habit of dealing with their own issues as being criminal, but to the local inhabitants it was more a case of keeping things out of the hands of the authorities.”
― Rupert Matthews, Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror: Life during the reign of Victorian London's most brutal killer

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“Murder, even an accidental killing in a fight, was not only frowned upoп but was rare. In 1887 there was only one murder in Whitechapel, and in 1889 none at all. So while violence was common and widespread, killing was not.”
― Rupert Matthews, Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror: Life during the reign of Victorian London's most brutal killer

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“It is not the number of victims that Jack the Ripper claimed that ensure his lasting fame. Only five women were definitely killed by him, and certainly there were no more than eight victims. Other serial killers since then have murdered more. And although the horrific mutilations Jack the Ripper carried out were disturbing and violent, they too have been surpassed since. In the records of serial killers, Jack the Ripper is unexceptional in many ways. But he remains the most famous of them all.”
― Rupert Matthews, Jack the Ripper's Streets of Terror

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