The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
by Maxim Jakubowski
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Book Summary Information
Author: Maxim JakubowskiEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2008-05-06
ISBN: 0762433795
Number of pages: 512
Publisher: Running Press
Book Reviews of The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
Book Review: A long review
Summary: 4 Stars
This book originally was released in 1999, re-released in 2005 with the title "Jack the Ripper, the Comprehensive A-Z" (absolutely not to be confused with The Jack the Ripper A to Z) then re-re-released again in 2008 under its original title. This editted book by Jakubowski/Braund gives the reader on overview of the 'canonical 5' murder scenes, timeline, witnesses, police reports, and the "Ripper letters" before presenting the essays by a plethora of Ripper researchers. Unfortunately, these papers on select suspects blatantly contradict each other and generalize far to much with statemnts like "most Ripper researchers accept the 'Dear Boss' letter as real" or that certain situations happened when few researchers actully believe said event happened. In my readings, very few researchers view any of the Ripper letters as being real, but I digress. Onward to the essays:
1. William Beadle supports the suspect of wife murdering William Henry Bury as explained thoroughly in The Trial of Jack the Ripper: The Case of William Bury (1859-89).
2. Mark Daniel writes about the news image of JtR overshadowing the actual Whitechapel Murderer. No real listed suspect.
3. Melvyn Fairclough promotes James Maybrick
4. Martin Fido takes to the McNaughton Memoranda suspect list and looks at the possibility that Kosminksy could be the same person as his proposed Nathan Kaminsky who in turn is feasibly David Cohen.
5. Paul Harrison lays claim he was the first to point out that JtR was Joseph Barnett, Mary Kelly's last boyfriend. Barnett performed the murders to scare Maryoff the streets and back into his arms.
6. Shirley Harrison, of course, continues to support James Maybrick but spends much of this essay trying to defend the authenticity of the purported Maybrick/Ripper diary (The Diary of Jack the Ripper: The Chilling Confessions of James Maybrick)which she helped become (in)famous.
7. Bruce Paley follows the Joseph Barnett theory from Jack the Ripper: The Simple Truth.
8. Sue and Andy Palour continue their explanation of a Royal Conspiracy to protect Prince Albert (who may have sired an illegitimate child with a Catholic prostitute) in which Sir William Gull heads up a cover-up using J.K. Stephens to do the killings but Stephens was also assisted by Montague Druitt.
9. Gary Rowlands presents social worker/almost doctor/missionary Thomas Barnardo.
10. MJ Trow points the finger at Frederick Nicholas Charrington, another missionary/social worker. This well done essay then turns around and says "Gotcha" in an attempt to show others that you can twist and omit enough data to accuse just about anyone. Probably the best entry in the book.
11. James Tully condenses his book The Secret of Prisoner 1167 (True Stories) to point the finger at James Kelly.
12. Peter Turnbull calls forth six Ripper murders but does not include Long Liz Stride as one of those six (claiming her ex-lover Michael Kidney killed her). The six referenced murders weren't even performed by one person but rather were copycat killers. This is similarly done in The Crimes of Jack the Ripper by Paul Roland.
13. Nick Warren has a convoluted mess of Royal Conspiracy, Freemasons, and Irish Nationalists behind the deaths.
14. Simon Whitechapel rambles on rather incoherently about the occult and apparently names Sir Lawrence Alma-Tadema the murderer.
15. AP Wolf claims that Alice McKenzie and Frances Coles are "confirmed Ripper Kills" along with the main 5 and that Thomas Cutbush was the perpetrator.
16. Colin Wilson does some backstepping from the Royal Conspiracy and then seemingly reluctantly agrees the most likely candidate is James Maybrick based on the purported diary and pocketwatch of Maybrick. And rather arrogantly, Wilson lays claim he came up with the term "Ripperologist".
After the essays, the editors put forth brief listings of other suspects. This is followed by possible other Ripper victims including Smith, Tabram, and McKenzie but no mention of Coles. Then there's a weather report for the 5 prominent dates of the murders and a rather extensive bibliography.
Overall, good book for the casual investigator in that it presents multiple theories and suspects. For the more in-depth armchair researcher, there are contradictions between all the papers presented. For me, the most impactful entry was MJ Trow's showing of how anyone can be made to fit a proposal or theory.
Summary of The Mammoth Book of Jack the Ripper
A full investigation into Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders from the world's leading Ripperologists, this collection presents 20 different arguments on his identity.
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