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Jack the Ripper: Revealed and Revisited
224 pages, Hardcover
First published September 30, 2006
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June 25, 2011
There are so many published works offering theories as to the identity (or identities) of "Jack The Ripper", that is rare to encounter anything original. Everybody from professional Ripperologists such as Paul Begg, to contemporary Scotland Yard Detectives have offered their opinions - including some fairly dubious theories. One example that springs to mind is Patricia Cornwell's Portrait of a Killer - Jack the Ripper: Case Closed - which named artist Walter Sickert, an interesting, but highly debatable candidate.
However, this book by John Wilding is a whole new ball game. Although the suspects he offers have been identified before, much of the interpretations of "evidence" he offers is -as far as I now- new. The author's main premise appears to be "I can't prove this....but you can't disprove it, so lets just go with it....". Wilding's theory is heavily reliant on acrostics, anagrams, codes and Victorian word-games, claiming that clues were deliberately left at the scene to point to who did it -and why. This word-play really stretches credulity, and at times verges on nonsensical.In fact, even Wilding himself acknowledges the contentious nature of his argument, and actually states on more than one occasion that "the midnight anoraks" of the internet will be upset by his book.
I dont think I can say it better than the reviewer on Casebook.org (an internet site dedicated to Ripper Research: "A bizarre book...... The less said about this work the better. Not recommended."
However, this book by John Wilding is a whole new ball game. Although the suspects he offers have been identified before, much of the interpretations of "evidence" he offers is -as far as I now- new. The author's main premise appears to be "I can't prove this....but you can't disprove it, so lets just go with it....". Wilding's theory is heavily reliant on acrostics, anagrams, codes and Victorian word-games, claiming that clues were deliberately left at the scene to point to who did it -and why. This word-play really stretches credulity, and at times verges on nonsensical.In fact, even Wilding himself acknowledges the contentious nature of his argument, and actually states on more than one occasion that "the midnight anoraks" of the internet will be upset by his book.
I dont think I can say it better than the reviewer on Casebook.org (an internet site dedicated to Ripper Research: "A bizarre book...... The less said about this work the better. Not recommended."
Displaying 1 of 1 review