Ripperology The Best of Ripperologist Magazine

by Paul Begg

Widely considered the leading journal for the study of Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders, Ripperologist has published more than sixty issues since its launch in 1994. Ripperology collects dozens of the choicest articles from the magazine, written by many of the most knowledgeable Ripper experts. These articles cover all angles of the grizzly murders. Articles such as "Jack by Gaslight," a close examination of what lighting was available at one of the murder sites, deal with the more technical aspects of the crimes. Others, such as "Elizabeth's Story" focus on particular victims or the victims in general. Still others profile the suspects, the policemen involved in the investigations, or the earliest chroniclers and commentators on the Ripper phenomenon. Ripperology will give readers a clearer picture of these hideous crimes, as well a greater understanding of both criminal behavior in Victorian London and the criminal mind itself.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History

256 pages, Hardcover

Published January 1, 2007

About the author

Paul Begg is acknowledged worldwide as one of the leading authorities on the Jack the Ripper mystery. He has worked in newspapers, television and publishing. He has written extensively on Jack the Ripper, including Jack the Ripper: The Uncensored Facts, Jack the Ripper: The Definitive History and Jack the Ripper: The Facts. He is also the author of Into Thin Air, The Scotland Yard Files and Mary Celeste: The Greatest Mystery of the Sea. Paul was formerly the editor of the Ripperologist magazine and has appeared as an historical advisor on several television programmes.

Reviews

[Terri · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed these articles. High quality. Particularly the ones on Carrie Brown, Dickens and the East End & Letters to the Old Jewry. In Ripperology there is always something new to explore!

[nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

I must preface this review with the fact that I bought this book because it was "bargain priced" and not necessarily as something I wanted to read it.

It is essentially just a reprint of the "best" articles in Ripperologist Magazine (who knew that existed?). Most of the articles were very meandering and generally used circular reasoning in their arguments (about victims, suspects, etc concerning the Jack the Ripper murders). Only maybe 2-3 of the artciles (out of around 15-20) I found remotely interesting and/or well written.

Perhaps if you are a die-hard "Ripperologist" (and not just scooping up cheap, hardback books that may or may not provide nice airplane reading) you might like this, but then again, you might already be a suscriber to Ripperologist Magazine.

[Lizabeth Tucker · Rating 3 out of 5]

I read a lot of true crime and police books and have always enjoyed the majority of them. Certain crime and/or criminals do tend to fascinate and intrigue me. Jack the Ripper is one of the most famous unsolved crimes of the modern era. There are numerous books dedicated to this serial killer as well as Ripperologist magazine.

This is a collection of what are supposed to be the best articles from the magazine. While I did enjoy a couple of articles, the majority were just boring.

Even if you're a fan of true crime books, you probably will want to avoid Ripperology if you stumble over it at a discount sale.

[Mary · Rating 2 out of 5]

Though several of the articles were interesting, most were only tangentially related to Jack the Ripper. What surprised me the most is how poorly some of the articles were written.