NEW FOR 2007
UNCOVERING JACK THE RIPPER'S LONDON
BY RICHARD JONES
"...Richard Jones. Familiar to viewers of the History Channels documentary on Jack the Ripper, Jones has been a relatively quiet contributor to the case until now. While many of us can be regularly found in the pages of journals such as the one you're holding...Jones has been in the field, conducting walking tours and amassing a terrific knowledge of the East End's history in general and the Jack the Ripper crimes in particular..." RIPPER NOTES REVIEW OF RICHARD'S DVD UNMASKING JACK THE RIPPER.
UNCOVERING JACK THE RIPPER'S LONDON RICHARD'S NEW BOOK WILL BE PUBLISHED WORLDWIDE JUNE IN 2007
2007 will see the
release of Richard Jones's new book "Uncovering Jack the Ripper's London." This
is not a typical Jack the Ripper publication that attempts to sensationalize or
embellish the facts of the 1888 murder mystery by
attempting to build a case against a particular suspect. Rather, it is a
gripping day by day account of ten weeks in 1888, when an unknown murderer,
lurking in some of the capital's worst slums, sent a wave of terror and
panic surging through the whole of
Victorian society.
Drawing on contemporary newspaper accounts, official reports and witness statements Richard Jones spirits his readers back to the autumn of 1888 and exposes them to the panic, terror and hostility that the Jack the Ripper murders evoked in the area.
This lavishly
illustrated book includes several never before published photographs of the
streets and places
where the murders occurred. In addition it has many full
colour and atmospheric photographs of the murder sites as they are today. These
photographs were specially commissioned for the book and were taken by Sean
East, a former Metropolitan Police Officer who spent long nights in early 2006
traipsing the streets to catch them at their sinister best!
Uncovering Jack
the Ripper's London examines the wider context of the murders, exploring the
social conditions against which they occurred, revealing the animosity that grew
up between the police and press of the day, whilst at the same time looking in
detail at the anti-Semitism which the killings engendered. Richard also
discusses how philanthropic bodies used the murders to effect much needed social
change in the area and how,
in one case at least, this backfired horrifically
and resulted in more potential victims being exposed to the danger of Jack the
Ripper.
What Richard has
not tried to do is name the Ripper. As he says in the preface to the book "There
is no doubt that several of the police officers who worked on the case favoured
particular suspects, and some even went on record to name him. The problem is
that those that did so tended to name different suspects. Therein lies the
difficulty of hunting the Ripper down and naming him. With over a hundred
possibilities to choose from the exercise can simply create more confusion in an
already confusing and confused field of study."
The book is aimed at those people who are interested in learning the story of the murders without the claims, counter claims, fabrications and downright falsehoods that have distorted the true facts for over a hundred years. It provides an excellent introduction to the case that those who are new to the case can then use to launch their own studies in to the most debated over and pored over murder mystery in history. Yet the photographs, particularly those of the murder sites and other relevant locations as they are today, will provide seasoned ripperologists - especially those based overseas - with evocative images of an area of London whose worldwide reach extends far beyond its geographic boundaries.
The book will be published by New Holland in England and by Barnes and Noble in the United States and will be available in early June 2007. Meanwhile those who wish to learn more about this fascinating case can purchase Richard's acclaimed drama-documentary Unmasking Jack the Ripper which is available from our website or via select retailers.