Customer Reviews

The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a necessary addition to any Ripper library. It is essentially a compilation of contemporary documents, mostly police, inquest and newspaper reports. It covers the major bases, including the individual murders and some documents relating to suspects and police opinions. Although it obviously may not be as comprehensive or up-to-date as one might like, it is one of the few primary source collections on the Whitechapel crimes, which alone makes it worth the read.

It is indeed rarest of rare to find a book that is perfectly true in terms of its name, and this book falls under that "category" (are there any other books in that class?). It is truly ultimate as a source-book for the "Jack the Ripper" killing that terrorised London and keeps on horrifying us after all these years. Every year we come across new "theories" propounded either by the Ripperologists, or by rank amateurs trying to cash on our queries. But this book remains true and authentic. If at any point in my life I consider myself qualified enough to uplift myself to the rank of a Ripperologist rather than being the curious folk (as at present), I will make a thorough study of everything in this book. Until then, I can merely recommend: "please get hold of a copy of this book by any means".

This book is a useful compendium of source material for the serious student of the Ripper mystery... Indeed, it's audience is very much limited to hard-core 'Ripper-o-philes' as the included material is too dense and overly detailed for the casual reader. It includes laboriously transcribed primary source documents such as police reports, and a plethora of relevant newspaper articles, including those covering inquest testimony. The book is indeed a comprehensive work and very nearly rates 5 stars. Unfortunately, it falls short of a first class rating for a few reasons:

First of all, the title describes the book as an 'illustrated encyclopedia', but this description is a little misleading, both in the sense of being illustrated, and as being encyclopedic. True enough, the book *does* contain illustrations and is therefore 'illustrated' but one could make the same claim about a book with a single picture. Here there are three brief sections containing some photographs, a few drawings and a diagram or two. The pictures that are interesting and relevant are, for the most part, ones that have been reproduced in many other works, while the rest are not especially interesting and rather haphazardly organized. In short, since similar graphic sections are included in most Ripper books, it is a bit of an exaggerated claim to call it 'illustrated'... such a description is far more suited to the very excellent Jack the Ripper: Scotland Yard Investigates which has very few pages that do not contain illustrations, diagrams or maps directly related to the text.

I would also dispute the books claim to be encyclopedic as this would connote a 'quick reference' sort of design with the subject broken down into itemized topics arranged alphabetically. Here, the authors have adopted a narrative type format that is generally chronological, with source documents inserted onto the narrative text here and there. Unfortunately, this diminishes the utility of the book. The narrative, which provides a broad overview of the facts, really adds nothing that can be found elsewhere. Having the source material 'littered' through all this, almost superfluous, material makes finding a particular source document quite difficult... Often one has to look twice to see if one is reading the authors or a document that is being quoted.

Personally, I would like to see an 'ultimate companion' source book to have a much cleaner format; perhaps a section grouped into specific topics containing facsimiles of relevant documents in addition to the transcriptions, along with a brief blurb by the authors concerning the provenance of the material and adding some brief supplementary notes where applicable. In addition, I would like to see a much more comprehensive collection of illustrations grouped along with the source documents and, more importantly perhaps, maps and diagrams accompanying all documents describing, or relating to locales....

That all being said, however, I am glad I purchased the book.

C John Thompson

This was a replacement gift as the first book was eaten by the dog. The original was bought in England at the museum and was very costly. So glad to give as a gift and was delivered before deadline.

It is a good source of information that all serious students of the Ripper murders should have.

It just isn't as good as Philip Sugden's book. But how could it be?

one of the best Jack the Ripper books I have studied. It has police reports, inquest testimony,
newspaper stories ,and witness statements not found in other books. And best of all the author is
not pushing some personal off the wall theory of who he thinks jack the ripper was. He just gives the information that is avilable. Good book.