Jack the Ripper and the London Press [Hardcover]

L. Curtis Jr. (Author), L. Perry Curtis Jr. (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 1, 2001

Press coverage of the 1888 mutilation murders attributed to Jack the Ripper was of necessity filled with gaps and silences, for the killer remained unknown and Victorian journalists had little experience reporting serial murders and sex crimes. This engrossing book examines how fifteen London newspapers - dailies and weeklies, highbrow and lowbrow - presented the Ripper news, in the process revealing much about the social, political, and sexual anxieties of late Victorian Britain and the role of journalists in reinforcing social norms. L. Perry Curtis surveys the mass newspaper culture of the era, delving into the nature of sensationalism and the conventions of domestic murder news. Analyzing the fifteen newspapers - several of which emanated from the East End, where the murders took place - he shows how journalists played on the fears of readers about law and order by dwelling on lethal violence rather than sex, offering gruesome details about knife injuries but often withholding some of the more intimate details of the pelvic mutilations. He also considers how the Ripper news affected public perceptions of social conditions in Whitechapel. 'It is a major contribution to cultural history', Christopher Frayling, Rector of the Royal College of Art, London 'An excellent book that offers a new angle on an always fascinating subject', John Davis, Queen's College, Oxford L. Perry Curtis, Jr., is professor of history and modern culture and media at Brown University, Rhode Island.

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

Filling a perceived gap in "Ripperature," Curtis examines how 14 London newspapers covered the Whitechapel murders attributed to Jack the Ripper in 1888. Curtis (history, emeritus, Brown) begins with a brief account of the crimes and a description of the impoverished East End of London, where the murders occurred. He then devotes three chapters to the state of Victorian journalism, with emphasis on how murders and other sensational news were reported. Only about half of the book actually analyzes the Ripper reportage, which, like today's journalism, reflected the social, political, and moral climate of the time. Although Victorian sensibilities dictated that certain details be sanitized or omitted altogether, competition among the daily and weekly papers led each to devote increasing space to the investigations and to the associated speculation and analysis. With its decidedly Anglocentric vocabulary and with close to 700 endnotes (many containing details that are far from marginal), this scholarly work may prove slow going for the amateur U.S. Ripperologist. Recommended for academic and larger public libraries only. Susan M. Colowick, North Olympic Lib. Syst., Port Angeles, WA
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Review

"An excellent book that offers a new angle on an always fascinating subject." -- John Davis, Queen's College, Oxford

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 320 pages
• Publisher: Yale University Press (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0300088728
• ISBN-13: 978-0300088724
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.5 x 1.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,576,157 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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