Uncovering Jack the Ripper's London

by Richard Jones

The crimes of Jack the Ripper have gone down in history as some of the most brutal and violent ever committed. These horrendous acts of serial murder confounded the police at the time, and the mystery of the Ripper's identity remains unsolved to this day. In addition to the sense of fear and panic the murders brought to the London streets of the late 1880s, they also shed a harsh light on the impoverished and dangerous conditions of the East End and brought numerous tensions to boiling point. This book examines the wider context of the murders, taking into account the social conditions against which they were committed, the animosity between police and press, the instances of anti-Semitism and the physical geography of the area now and then. Providing detailed analysis of the attacks and the investigation, the book also considers acts committed before and after that could also have been the work of the same person. Featuring previously unpublished documents and photographs, this book is a must for all Jack the Ripper enthusiasts.

Genres: True Crime, History, Nonfiction, London

128 pages, Paperback

First published May 25, 2007

About the author

Richard Jones is the author of 18 books, two of which (Uncovering Jack the Ripper’s London and Jack the Ripper: The Casebook) are about the 1888 Whitechapel Murders, and several others (Walking Dickensian London and History and Mystery London of which cover other aspects of East End history.

Reviews

[Nicole · Rating 4 out of 5]

My...well frankly I don't know it exactly, I guess sixth book or so about the subject.
This one provides the attacks and parts of the investigation as well as some consideration of the acts before and after the five recognised Ripper murders. This book comes along with some insightful and compelling potoghraps and Richard Jones examines and describs the social conditions , the living conditions,the people, the poverty , the overgrowded life in the East End of the 19th century, the instances of anti- Semitism and the physical geography of the area.
Each chapter has the " right" comfortable lenght and Jones finds the balance between describing important facts without digging to deep. So the book is a good start for everyone who is interested in the Ripper mystery with no backround and wants to start reading about it.
Despite Jones doesn't dedicate the suspects some space here, they're not missing at all because its not about "them".
Here it is more the whole foggy unknown identity which suspends to every chapter which makes this a quite exciting must read for all the Ripper enthusiasts.

[jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

Jones probably knows more about the case than anyone, as he has been leading Ripper walking tours in London for years. This book is excellent for anyone with an interest in the murders or just interested in the state of the London poor in this time period. Really interesting to me are the photos taken of London properties during the murder spree and current photos that show the changes time has brought.

[Catherine · Rating 3 out of 5]

A three plus. Good starter research book on the subject of the Ripper murders, with lots of photos of the surrounding area and clearly written, factual descriptions. The murder photos are pretty grisly so be prepared, if you haven't seen them before. It ends a bit abruptly, rather like the murders themselves, and I would have liked more info on the aftermath of the killings, some more about the suspects, etc. But as noted, good as an intro.

[Siri Olsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very informative book. The author is clearly very knowledgeable on the subject and the information is displayed clearly and concisely with detailed descriptions and plenty of real or digital photographs of the crime scenes. The images are disturbing and rightly so. All around, the book is a thorough and rightly gruesome walkthrough on an interesting subject, but while the idea of approaching the murders through a very detailed introduction to the sites and locations associated with them is very interesting and carried out beautifully, it doesn't provide enough new information to really add to the overall knowledge for someone who has read other books on the subject.