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Jack the Ripper: One Hundred Years of Mystery
Jack the Ripper still causes a shudder, synonymous as it is with violent murder and mutilation. But also of mystery and speculation - for the gruesome series of killings in London's East End in that horrific Autumn of 1888 have never been finally solved.
The identity of the Ripper, his motives and his association have been the subject of endless discussion and speculation since Victorian times. Suspects have been as varied as a Jewish slaughter man and the Duke of Clarence.
Now, as the centenary of those terrible crimes arrives, comes Peter Underwoods comprehensive look at all aspects of Jack the Ripper. It contains a wealth of new and previously unpublished material with a detailed look at the possible candidates and probable identity, examinations of the murder sites, then and now, the psyche of the murderer and the murdered, the alleged ghosts and spirit contacts and a survey of all writings on the Ripper and his victims, published and unpublished, this is the definitive book, with a 100 year perspective.
The identity of the Ripper, his motives and his association have been the subject of endless discussion and speculation since Victorian times. Suspects have been as varied as a Jewish slaughter man and the Duke of Clarence.
Now, as the centenary of those terrible crimes arrives, comes Peter Underwoods comprehensive look at all aspects of Jack the Ripper. It contains a wealth of new and previously unpublished material with a detailed look at the possible candidates and probable identity, examinations of the murder sites, then and now, the psyche of the murderer and the murdered, the alleged ghosts and spirit contacts and a survey of all writings on the Ripper and his victims, published and unpublished, this is the definitive book, with a 100 year perspective.
- GenresHistoryNonfiction
181 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1987
About the author
Peter Underwood
92 books16 followers(1923/2014): Author, broadcaster, historian of the occult; investigator of the paranormal.
Born in Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Underwood wrote prolifically on ghosts and haunted places within the United Kingdom, and was a leading expert on ‘the most haunted house in England’, Borley Rectory.
An early formative experience came at the age of nine, on the day he learnt of his father’s death; that night, he awoke to see an apparition of his father at the foot of the bed.
Around the same time, he was fascinated to learn of a ghost story associated the old house at Rosehall - where his maternal grandparents lived for a time; it contained a bedroom where guests claimed to see the figure of a headless man..
It was at this young age that Underwood's interest in hauntings and psychic matters began to take root.
On January 1942, Underwood was called up for active service with the Suffolk Regiment. After collapsing at a rifle range at Bury St Edmunds, a serious chest ailment was diagnosed. He was discharged, and returned to his employment at the publishing firm J.M. Dent & Sons.
One of his early investigations was the Borley Rectory haunting, where, over a period of years, Underwood traced and personally interviewed almost every living person who had been connected with the mysterious events surrounding the place.
Underwood built upon the legacy of the work of Harry Price, who had investigated Borley before him. Together with Paul Tabori (literary executor of the Price Estate), Underwood was able to publish all his findings in The Ghosts of Borley (1973).
In his autobiography No Common Task (1983), Underwood remarked that ”98% of reported hauntings have a natural and mundane explanation, but it is the other 2% that have interested me for more than forty years”.
Having joined The Ghost Club back in 1947 - at the personal invitation of Harry Price, Underwood was to become its President for over thirty years: from 1960 to 1993.
Underwood was a long-standing member of the Society for Psychical Research and the Savage Club. In 1976, a bust of him was sculpted by Patricia Finch - winner of the Gold Medal for Sculpture in Venice.
In recognition of his more than seventy years of paranormal investigations, Underwood became the Patron of The Ghost Research Foundation (founded in Oxford), which termed him the King of Ghost Hunters.
Born in Letchworth in Hertfordshire, Underwood wrote prolifically on ghosts and haunted places within the United Kingdom, and was a leading expert on ‘the most haunted house in England’, Borley Rectory.
An early formative experience came at the age of nine, on the day he learnt of his father’s death; that night, he awoke to see an apparition of his father at the foot of the bed.
Around the same time, he was fascinated to learn of a ghost story associated the old house at Rosehall - where his maternal grandparents lived for a time; it contained a bedroom where guests claimed to see the figure of a headless man..
It was at this young age that Underwood's interest in hauntings and psychic matters began to take root.
On January 1942, Underwood was called up for active service with the Suffolk Regiment. After collapsing at a rifle range at Bury St Edmunds, a serious chest ailment was diagnosed. He was discharged, and returned to his employment at the publishing firm J.M. Dent & Sons.
One of his early investigations was the Borley Rectory haunting, where, over a period of years, Underwood traced and personally interviewed almost every living person who had been connected with the mysterious events surrounding the place.
Underwood built upon the legacy of the work of Harry Price, who had investigated Borley before him. Together with Paul Tabori (literary executor of the Price Estate), Underwood was able to publish all his findings in The Ghosts of Borley (1973).
In his autobiography No Common Task (1983), Underwood remarked that ”98% of reported hauntings have a natural and mundane explanation, but it is the other 2% that have interested me for more than forty years”.
Having joined The Ghost Club back in 1947 - at the personal invitation of Harry Price, Underwood was to become its President for over thirty years: from 1960 to 1993.
Underwood was a long-standing member of the Society for Psychical Research and the Savage Club. In 1976, a bust of him was sculpted by Patricia Finch - winner of the Gold Medal for Sculpture in Venice.
In recognition of his more than seventy years of paranormal investigations, Underwood became the Patron of The Ghost Research Foundation (founded in Oxford), which termed him the King of Ghost Hunters.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
August 30, 2019
Jack the Ripper
Peter Underwood has written a thoroughly enjoyable book on the Ripper.
As well as detailing the murders he lists possible suspects. But what I find most interesting is that he also suggests two new suspects.
If you want an overview on the Ripper murders this is a brilliant place to start.
Peter Underwood has written a thoroughly enjoyable book on the Ripper.
As well as detailing the murders he lists possible suspects. But what I find most interesting is that he also suggests two new suspects.
If you want an overview on the Ripper murders this is a brilliant place to start.
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March 5, 2021well , lacked structure and details , just skimmed the surface of a well documented real life event
December 25, 2021
Interesting read.
July 2, 2023
Any credibility this guy had, went out the window when he started on about ghosts. FFS. Otherwise, not a bad book if a little, well, self centred :)
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews