The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Sourcebook

The next best thing to squatting amid Scotland Yard's dusty files yourself, this collection of police and autopsy reports, witness statements, letters, newspaper stories, and sometimes gory photos presents the primary sources without interpretation. This reference guide wasn't written for conspiracy seekers. Its extensive 650-plus pages are refreshingly free of wild-eyed speculation about the Ripper's identity, whether it be within the royal family, London's medical community, or the many other places would-be detectives have plucked suspects from for the last hundred years. The theories are left up to the reader, who is presented with practically every raw fact--some of it downright minutia--surrounding the "Whitechapel horrors," a string of prostitute murders that continue to fascinate due to the bizarre sexual mutilations involved and the seamy setting of that era's East End, a labyrinth of dark, winding streets and extreme poverty. The writers, both historical advisors on Jack the Ripper, present each original source with a brief introduction. There are even files, reports, and news clippings connected to other prostitute slayings between 1888 to 1891 that, over time, have been attributed mistakenly to the Ripper. And there are documents that should put some suspicions to rest. In a letter written by Metropolitan Police Commissioner Sir Charles Warren, the reader learns that anti-Semitic graffiti that might have come from the killer was quickly destroyed because Warren feared a riot if London crowds read the message. (The police bungling fueled accusations of a government cover-up since the chalk writing was destroyed before it could be photographed.) The helpful appendix includes a chronology of events, as well as short autobiographical notes on key Ripper investigators. The absence of literary interpretation makes cover-to-cover reading difficult, but as a source book this guide could become indispensable for students of the Ripper, whether they be serious scholars or simple hobbyists. --Jodi Mailander Farrell