The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden

The Complete History of Jack the Ripper by Philip Sugden Not being a "ripperologist" myself and only having a passing interest in the case I found this book to be an eye-opener. I had always assumed that there were the five murders that are accepted as being the work of the ripper and that was it. I now find that there may have been six, seven, or eight. Maybe even more. There may have even been a ripper murder in America.

With this work the reader gets a case by case, witness by witness, and suspect by suspect review of the facts. The research that went into this book and the details covered show an amazing dedication on the part of Mr. Sugden. He does not fall into what has apparently been a trap for ripper writers for years by accepting secondary sources at face value. Instead he looks to primary material where possible and by doing so exposes myths that have survived in some cases for over one hundred years. As an added bonus he does not start out like many other writers on this subject with a theory to prove, bending and ignoring evidence to fit his preconceived notion.

I only had two very small problems with this book. First, Mr. Sugden is a little too open in his contempt for some other ripper writers. Sometimes he seems to go out of his way to point out their mistakes. Considering that these mistakes have have often been accepted as fact by later writers and are the basis for many myths I guess that this tactic may be necessary. Still I often found that it bothered me. Second, he uses several words which I am sure are in common use in England but cause the American reader to pause and wonder just what Sugden is talking about. My complaints are small indeed.

Sugden does end the book with the most likely suspect but admits that the case against this man still is full of holes. Will the case ever be solved? Sugden seems to think so. After reading his extraordinary book I agree.