Jack the Ripper: The Murders, the Mystery, the Myth

by Victor Stapleton, Darren Tan (Illustrator)

It has been over one hundred years since Jack the Ripper spread death and terror through the streets of Whitechapel, but time has done little to unwrap the mystery behind the murders. If anything, the story of Jack is now more confusing, obscure, and mysterious than ever. With every passing generation, new theories and new suspects have sprung up, each adding another piece to the legend.

Within these pages, Victor Stapleton examines the entire legend of Jack the Ripper. He opens with an explanation of the original murders, the investigation that followed, and the various copycat killings and scares that occurred in the direct aftermath. He then explores the cases of all of the primary suspects, both those that were part of the original police investigation, and those that have been named by later writers and theorists. From there, Stapleton maps the transition of Jack from a historical figure into a character of folklore, literature, and cinema.

This is the true history of Jack the Ripper.

Genres: True Crime, Nonfiction, History

80 pages, Paperback

First published October 20, 2014

Reviews

[Susannah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Although slight at less than 100 pages, this book is a concise overview of the case of Jack the Ripper and the terror wrought in London's East End in the autumn of 1888. It details the crimes, main police officers involved, inquests, suspects of the day and suspects of today, as well as folklore that contributed to the almost mythical status of this real-life killer. No one case is made for any particular suspect. This book is a good place to start if you are looking for a brief history of the crimes, and serves as a good introduction for those wishing to seek out more in-depth studies.

[Ana Luiza · Rating 4 out of 5]

Short, simple and straight to the point. This book was everything it said it was, and ideal for a newbie to the whole thing (like me). I particularly liked that it didn't try and sway the readers towards a specific suspect, because that was not something I wanted right now, and that it gave a list of sources at the end, so the reader can check out the more detailed stuff (looking forward to that). My one complaint is that the images could have been better organized so as not to appear too early or too soon in the text.

[Jude · Rating 3 out of 5]

In so much as I would like to know who Jack the Ripper is (or was) from this author's vantage point, this short take on this classic persona defers more to notes and references of previous authors who I'm pretty sure have been sucked in by the charm of the 'killings' and the stories that go with it, whether exacerbated by the times or the people. (Who am I kidding? Of course the stories were and still are embellished! Human nature, duh.)

One thing I would complain though, not in how it was written ("thesis-like"), but how it was published in the ebook version I got was the arrangement of illustrations/images/archived articles and their captions. It got me distracted from the flow of ideas presented, i.e. The surviving copy of the newspaper article on Walter Sickert appeared two pages ahead before its intended heading. The image of the river where M. Druitt drowned showed up when currently the 'Leather Apron' suspect was the topic. And many more... I went "huh?" at first and it made reading it choppy.

He was on point though. Jack the Ripper has been and always will be a mania and would be, if not already, recorded in the annals of history as one of those crimes police force scrambled to resolve but CAN'T. Just looking at the references, I really doubt how each book could be complete as they claimed to be, what with the "convincing" titles and all. Then, searching this book here in Goodreads lead to a massive collection of which, like the author said, would be a waste of time if one ever chooses to delve deeper... That's why what should a good reader do? *winks* Read the briefest of them all without losing the meat... and here it is.

[Charlotte · Rating 4 out of 5]

I think I was expecting to be more fascinated by this book than I was. It was very factual and I guess just showed how little we actually know about Jack the Ripper. I have been pulled into the mystery of it all which is why I wanted to read the book. It gave me everything it said it would, so I can’t really complain. I can’t blame the author that this is an unsolvable mystery!

[Amy Lavigne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Overall, I think this was a nice little book. I think it would be better suited to people just starting out in “the Ripper world”. Anyone who has done research on the murders probably doesn’t need to read this book (and can probably point out some flaws in the research). But it was a nice book, and it was very informative (a little dry but that is to be expected). I found the last parts interesting about the books, and movies and how folktales reall influence how we perceive things and how we attach meaning to certain things even though they have clearly strayed from reality and taken on a life of their own.