Jack the Ripper The Facts
Edition: Paperback 2006
Author: Paul Begg
ISBN: 10 - 1 86105 870 5
ISBN 13 - 9 781861 058706
Publishers: Robson Books
Anova Books Company Ltd
Price £8.99
Publication Date: 2006 PB
Edition
Publisher’s Title Information
In the autumn of 1888 a
series of prostitute murders in London's poverty-ridden East End caused a
sensation around the world. The killer was never caught, perhaps never
identified, but became known to posterity by the chilling nickname ‘Jack the
Ripper'. This book is the story of those murders, free of theories and
speculation, by one of the world's most respected authorities' on the subject.
Paul Begg's fascinatingly
detailed history makes extensive use of contemporary sources to reconstruct the
murders and police investigation, what is known of the lives of the tragic
victims, and the reactions of the press and the people. He examines the crimes'
social background, the growing terror, what was happening on the streets, the
pressures on the police and the political crisis the crimes nearly caused. Taking an objective look at leading police suspects, his book includes a great deal of new information and assessments of `popular' theories such as the Royal conspiracy and the so-called Maybrick
diary - making this the most insightful and most complete account: a genuine
history of one of Britain's most gruesome series of murders.
Using contemporary documents, police files, Home Office papers and newspaper reports, 'Jack the Ripper: The Facts' recreates the notorious crimes and police investigation of
1888 to provide the best available overview of the 'Great Victorian Mystery',
the greatest unsolved, true crime story of all time.
Written by one of the world's foremost authorities on the case, this is a
completely rewritten and fully updated edition of Begg's classic title Jack the
Ripper. It follows the crimes chronologically and records the most significant events, witness testimonies and aspects of the police investigation. As well as objectively examining the primary police suspects, Begg provides a fascinating and authoritative insight into related political issues and background events.
The Author
Paul Begg is acknowledged worldwide as one of the leading authorities on the Jack the Ripper mystery. He is co-author of the 'Ripper
Bible', 'The Jack the Ripper A to Z', and has written 'Jack the Ripper: The
Definitive History'. He lives in Kent.
‘Not another book on Jack the
Ripper!’ Well, this is not just another
book but a thoroughly revised and completely rewritten edition of Jack the
Ripper: The Uncensored Facts by the same author. That was published during the centenary of the murders in 1988
and began with those very words!
After the centenary of the murders
one might have expected that interest in the subject would gradually wane. Nothing could be further from the truth as
writers put their word processors to use in producing yet more, and
occasionally rather dubious versions.
At the same time, at no expense at all, it has become possible to access
thousands of internet pages on the subject.
Comparatively little that is
substantially new has come to light since the late 1980s. In the main, the presently known facts do
not differ greatly from those in the public domain eighteen years ago. That there may be some gems of information
waiting to be discovered in documents yet to come to light in future years
cannot be denied. But at the moment we
must patiently make do with books by authors who visit and re-visit the
subject, looking again at what is already known. They labour in the hope of finding some issue, the significance
of which they might not have been appreciated the first time round, which might
further their understanding of certain aspects of the story. Such books may capture the imagination of
those who have not previously been introduced to the story, but one suspects
that most new books tend to find their way onto the bookshelves of already
committed Ripperologists.
Writers on the Whitechapel Murders
are confronted with a particular dilemma.
Having examined the limited facts available from official sources, they
are left with considerable gaps in the story.
Of necessity they must have recourse to unofficial versions in
autobiographies, privately held documents and, of course, newspaper
articles. While the latter seem to
accurately reflect most of what is said in inquest proceedings a good deal of
their commentary leaves a great deal to be desired in terms of
objectivity. Nonetheless, if such
articles plug a leaking gap in the story, their use is understandable. However, unless a writer can analyse the
strengths and weaknesses of those articles the value of the resulting book is
diminished. It is here that Paul Begg
is outstanding, for a considerable amount of newspaper based and other comment,
is subjected to comparison with other known facts or writings resulting in an
excellent objective analysis.
What is the name of Mr Begg’s best
suspect? To his credit he doesn’t put
one forward but confines himself to an examination of all the evidence currently
available. He suggests that the murders
were probably the work of some, as yet unknown, individual of no account. That said, he does look at Aaron Kosminksi
in some detail, devoting a chapter of over forty pages to an examination of
just about everything known about him.
We are treated to the clues provided shortly after the event by Major
Griffiths, HL Adam and Sir Robert Anderson in their writings, each pointing to
a similar individual without naming him.
The Macnaghten notes available in the public domain much later, which
incorporated the name Kosminski amongst the top three contenders are considered
in detail. Finally the Swanson
Marginalia, which identified Kosminski as the man who went from police custody
to care in an asylum. These, plus other
commentators’ contributions are examined in detail. Mr Begg observes that a source can be tested, by looking for
similar statements that can be verified or tested against known or accepted
history. This is precisely the sort of
testing which he subjects the ‘evidence’ to.
By contrast, all his ‘other
suspects’ are, probably quite rightly confined to a Chapter of only a little
over thirty pages. These include the
so-called suspects where writers have tended to name their suspect at the
outset and then build up a case against him.
The author puts the arguments in their correct perspective.
One disappointment is the amount of
space given to the Frances Coles’ murder in 1891. While not one of the canonical five, the police report did share
the same ‘box’ in the early archives. A
Thomas Sadler was strongly suspected, arrested, charged with Coles’ murder and
brought before a magistrates’ court.
The case was dropped, although there was strong circumstantial evidence
against him, which clearly placed him within yards and minutes of the murder
site. The police remained sufficiently
suspicious to follow him up for a number of years adding progress reports to
the file.
But readers may feel, at the end of some four hundred plus pages,
followed by almost another hundred of Notes and References, that Aaron
Kosminski comes out as the currently ‘best suspect’ albeit on circumstantial,
rather than direct evidence. The author
does not press the reader to accept this, but that is the conclusion many are
likely to come to.
Perhaps the identity of the murders
may not really be what is important. Mr
Begg concludes by noting that it is the story of those crimes, of the women who
died, and of the society and times in which they lived that matters and which
holds the enduring fascination. He
certainly brings these issues to life and in so doing, produces what must be
the leading book on the subject to date.
PR