Jack the Ripper: Revealed
and Revisited
Edition: Revised, 1st
Published in 1993
Author: John Wilding
ISBN: 0850793238
Publishers: Express
Newspapers
Price £14.99
Publication Date: 2006
Publisher’s Title
Information
‘A thoroughly researched and
skilfully woven theory that conclusively reveals the identity of Jack the
Ripper. Expounding on his earlier book,
Ripperologist John Wilding produces convincing new evidence that the notorious
killer was not one, but two, men, loyal servants of the Crown working under the
umbrella of the Establishment to protect the Royal family. Tying the facts compellingly to his
conclusions Wilding reveals how these men planned their reign of terror as a
means of averting a scandal that threatened the very survival of the monarchy. Handwriting analysis proves the killers'
identities beyond doubt as Wilding's evidence of conspiracy, illegitimacy and a
police cover-up, reaches its shocking conclusion.’ The Daily Express
‘It’s a story that has
everything needed for a page-turning read – gruesome murders, Royal scandal,
corruption and state plotting at the highest level. In this gripping account of a crime that has baffled experts for
over a century Wilding, armed with new code-breaking evidence and extensive
research, puts forward a persuasive and cogent argument that leaves the reader
certain of the true identity (or should that be identities?)of Jack the
Ripper.’ The Sunday Express
The Author
John Wilding was born in
Liverpool, into a family of engineers. John, instead of joining the family
business, decided instead to follow a theatrical career. Aged eighteen, he won a place at the London
Academy of Dramatic Art. After
graduation, John joined the theatre company of one of his tutors, Brian Way for
a number of seasons. Eventually, John
settled in London and began working in television, a medium he did not
enjoy. By this time, John was already
interested in writing and began to pen articles for various newspapers. Flexible hours meant, while writing his
first stage play, he was able to undertake work at the Royal Opera House, where
he could indulge his overwhelming, lifelong passion for opera and ballet.
John’s first stage play It’s Underneath That Counts toured the UK, quickly
followed by other successes such as Broken Bricks, Dead Spider and Lessons In
Seduction. He was then asked to
dramatise Stephen Knight’s celebrated book, Jack The Ripper, the Final
Solution: the resulting play won rave reviews under the title, The Secret of
Jack The Ripper.
For family reasons John
moved to Australia where his first book, The Message, was published, attracting
film offers. Several TV comedy scripts followed, broadcast by ABC. A new play
Who Will Sing Me To Sleep Tonight was performed in Sydney. This attracted a commission for him to write
a comedy, 006. This played to full
houses and earned record sums at the box office. After four years in Australia, John returned to the UK, where his
second book Jack The Ripper Revealed was published and his third book, The
Journal Of Stephen Hadley – John’s favourite work. John was forced into an early retirement to care for aging
relatives, but soon he began work again rewriting Shakespeare’s immortal drama
Hamlet in an attempt to explain the mysteries of the prince’s character.
Review
This is a revised edition,
the original having been published in 1993.
Written in an easy to follow style unfettered by footnotes or detailed
source references, it will certainly capture the imagination of readers new to
the story of the Whitechapel Murders.
However, the experienced Ripperologist, comparing it with the more
academically written source books available, will certainly take issue with
some passages and conclusions. But that
would be churlish. The writer has not
set out to produce a standard text book examining all the evidence. Instead he has chosen a path, of reasoned
thesis, albeit a controversial one, by which to pursue particular suspects
using an essentially novel approach.
The early chapters of the
book cover the five canonical murders and certain aspects of the
investigation. These are followed by
the author’s views as to what really happened.
To accept his thesis, the reader must forget what has been written by
others and temporarily suspend some previously held views. The murders it is claimed, were the result
of a conspiracy, in a style not dissimilar to that set out in Stephen Knight’s book
Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution, to which the author makes reference.
Unlike Knight’s work the
author puts forward a different scenario.
Imagine that one of the most senior royals in the land had an affair
with Mary Kelly. Suppose that this resulted
in a pregnancy and that Mary used her privileged position to steal some
important items of her lover’s property, possibly to blackmail him. This has to be recovered and in the course
of it, other ‘unfortunates’ who know too much have to be eliminated. The dirty deeds are down to two suspects
whose names, while familiar, have not previously been linked as a homicidal
duo. Furthermore, no-one was brought to
justice because of other conspiracies involving people in high places,
incompetent and corrupt police officers and coroners.
The author has written a
play involving this scenario and quotes extracts in the text to indicate how
those most intimately involved might have reacted to the strange situations in
which they found themselves. The facts,
as set out in the more commonly accepted sources, are cleverly woven into the
story.
Further supporting evidence
we are asked to consider, involves a comparative examination of the handwriting
left at Goulston Street, with that of a suspect. The question also arises as to whether that same handwriting
contained a message in the form of an anagram.
The raw material in the form of the 46 letters used in the graffiti, is
capable of a number of apposite anagrams, especially if one is content to leave
a few letters unused. Some of the other
letters received by the police and others are also subjected to similar
treatment. Is cryptography a legitimate
tool to use in pursuit of the Whitechapel murderer? Well, if all else fails, perhaps it is!
The story is fascinating
with a number of twists towards the end.
On the other hand a serious problem is the shortage of authorities and
general provenance for statements made which, for some, will pose an
insurmountable stumbling block. That
the author’s reasoning is controversial becomes clear when reading the most
unusual postscript to the book entitled ‘Afterthoughts’. In this he deals with reactions to the first
edition from those who questioned his use of anagrammatical principles and
challenged his conclusions. This is a
most unusual departure, but shows how strongly individuals need to defend
sincerely- held views. In one sense it
is a pity that writers on the subject cannot agree to differ, without raising
the temperature. But maybe it is
evidence of the heated debate the whole subject is capable of generating. For that reason at least, this book is well
worth reading.
P R