The Escape of Jack the Ripper: The Full Truth About the Cover-up and His Flight from Justice

by Jonathan Hainsworth, Christine Ward-Agius

For nearly 100 years, the question has repeatedly been asked: who was 'Jack the Ripper'? The real question that should be answered, however, is why? Why were five poor, defenceless women savagely murdered in the slums of Whitechapel in the autumn of 1888? Credible Victorian sources including an Old Etonian police chief (Sir Melville Macnaghten), a famous writer on true crime (George R. Sims), a Conservative MP (Henry Farquharson) and, most incriminatingly, members of the killer's own family knew that 'Jack the Ripper' was Montague John Druitt. He escaped earthly justice by drowning himself in the Thames. This book answers the question of why in 1888 Druitt, a barrister, part-time teacher and first-class cricketer, killed and mutilated women driven into prostitution through social neglect. Compiled from years of meticulous research, The Escape of Jack the Ripper moves from the suffering of impoverished Whitechapel to genteel London society, picturesque Dorset, the Inner Temple and the anonymity of the private asylums of France and England. The struggle of Druitt's desperate, respectable family to cover up for their dead Montie, whilst preventing any innocent person being hanged for his crimes, is told here. In the Edwardian era, Sir Melville and G. R. Sims ensured that the public understood that the long-deceased Whitechapel fiend was neither poor nor an immigrant, but rather a product of the British establishment. The photographs include the newly discovered last known image of Druitt.

Genres: True Crime, History, Nonfiction

Paperback

Published December 15, 2021

Reviews

[Leo · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was by far the most disappointing audiobook non fiction of the year. I have been very interested in learning about Jack the ripper and his victims.reading multiple books in the subject and so on, and when I saw this new to me that also promised to tell me who he actually was and that it's been big cover up. That's it's been known for a long time who he actually was.i just had to listen to it!! But the audiobook experience was terrible. It felt so monotone, just facts, name and taste thrown into my ear with out and engaging way to listen to it. It was hard to keep focused on it as it never seemed to have much "written story" for it to be entertaining to listen to.it might have been better to read it and maybe I will in the future to learn who he was. But the audiobook was successful in making a highly interesting topic very boring.

[Sarah · Rating 3 out of 5]

Picked this up at my local library as it looked intriguing.

I'm giving this three stars due to the level of research but this book was so frustrating, particularly when I discovered that one of the authors is a history teacher. The book puts forward a Jack the Ripper suspect as fact and doesn't address any of the arguments against that can be found through a quick Google search. It puts forward an interesting argument but, let's face it - if it was truly groundbreaking, it would have made the news.

It also annoyed me that the book acknowledged Hallie Rubenhold's 'The Five' in a positive manner and yet still referred to the five canon victims as prostitutes.

This book could have been so much more if it had the tenacity to acknowledge counter arguments and the bravery to break away from typical Ripperology approaches of describing the victims. It also can't help but admit that I drifted off occasionally when the book went off on tangents. Tangents are OK if the reader remains engaged and can comfortably return to the central point(s).

[Ryan Hastings · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is fantastically researched. The fact that the authors found all this information is ridiculously impressive. For that alone it is worthy of 4 stars. However the writing at points is very choppy and they often go on unrelated tangents that made me question where I was in the book. With all that said I’m firmly in the MJD camp for The Who done it.

[Josh · Rating 2 out of 5]

An enjoyable read, but I hope you like flimsy arguments based on repetitive, unsubstantiated assertions.

[Sarah · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of my students brought this book to me, and as a history teacher with a weakness for mysteries, I couldn’t resist. I had recently read the authors’ work on the Shakespeare Ladies, so I felt compelled to give this one a go as well. I’m glad I did.

The authors have produced an impressively thorough study, presenting a tightly argued case rooted in archival research, legal documents, and social-historical context. The tone here is quite different from many popular Ripper books as it is more academic, focussed on evidence rather than gore or sensationalism, and clearly written with the intention of correcting long-standing misconceptions. If you approach it with that in mind, the narrative flows well and the argument becomes increasingly compelling.

It’s worth noting that this is not an overview of all potential suspects, nor is it intended to be. Instead, the authors construct a specific, well-supported thesis, so don't treat the lack of comparison to other theories as a flaw, there are other books that do this if that's what you're looking for.

One of the strongest elements of the book, in my view, is the treatment of the women. The authors actively resist the old habit of reducing them to a single label and instead work to restore their individuality and humanity. Whether each woman engaged in sex work or not becomes secondary to the larger point: they were victims living within a harsh social and economic environment, and the system ultimately failed them. The book avoids sensationalism and makes a conscious effort to place the women, not just the killer, at the center of the narrative.

I won’t give any spoilers, but the research alone makes this a worthwhile read. I’ve already shared it with my book club and fellow teachers, and it’s sparked some excellent discussions.
Certainly worth a read.

[Riziki Ní Néill · Rating 3 out of 5]

(I am by no means an expert on Ripperology; this book was my first main foray into the topic.)
The actual experience of reading this book was quite enjoyable; unlike most other historical nonfiction books I've read (and this does seem to be peculiar to historical nonfiction in particular,) the writing was actually engaging and interesting, not overly melodramatic or overly dry. By form alone, this book would merit four stars at the very least.
The actual content of this book, however, is what brought my rating down by a star. The authors bring forth a possible identity of Jack the Ripper in the beginning of the book, and spend the rest of the book assuming that was indeed his true identity, without ever going deeper into why they assumed he was that specific person and not any of the other suspects. Though some of the evidence they gave for this person being the Ripper was solid, in the end, Hainsworth and Ward-Agius present a biased, subjective, one-sided view of the story. However, I do think that overall, this book isn't a bad introduction to Ripperology, if you take the authors' weakly supported claims throughout with a pound of salt.

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 2 out of 5]

Purchased for research purposes, its research values dwindled exponentially halfway through when the authors moved from documented information to pure speculation.
Everybody has a theory regarding who Jack the Ripper was. The authors put their candidate forward early and spend much of the book proving their case with little to no attention given to others' speculations. I found this a flaw. There's some effort made to demonstrate their candidate is a better guess than others' guesses and, for me, not enough to make it trustworthy.

[Amber carroll · Rating 2 out of 5]

I was so excited I love books on Jack the Ripper but this was very disappointing I felt like he was reaching for some things that didn’t add up with an excuse for why they didn’t and just too many holes for me personally

[Kevin Barnes · Rating 2 out of 5]

I felt like the Authors kept repeating the same information over and over again. The research has merit but I did not feel that it was presented in a understandable way, maybe that is why it kept getting repeated.

[Kirsty · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 ⭐️

[Holly · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5 stars

[Peter Plate · Rating 3 out of 5]

Seemed like a lot of what ifs

[Howard Sundwall · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of speculation, presented as if it were fact, including completely made-up scenes and dialog.