April-May

[Lemonjelly]

Lemon:
Thanks an awful lot for the time and effort with the review !
I also enjoyed the Coles/Sadler section....the whole book, as a matter of fact, but there were a few chapters that stood out for me.
One other was the one regarding the Estina Crawford murder....I didn't know 95 percent of the material Paul and John wrote about.

I'd agree. The elucidation of the pre-canonical victims also was excellent, and has got me champing at the bit to start Toms book, which will hopefully be some time today.

I also have never before read about the torso victims. Initially I was a bit perplexed by them being covered seperately, but on reflection it worked brilliantly. I think the chronological treatment of events is superb. Lumping all the torso victims together would have implied they were all by the same author (likely, but not guaranteed) & I suspect that the authors may feel that the torso victims were not all by the same killer - but that is a supposition on my part.

[Cogidubnus]

Oh what apathy!

So we sit here offering reviews on books which we, of all folk, are probably best-placed to critique...so why aren't we out there, putting those same reviews up on the place where we likely bought those books, (Amazon et al), hence not only doing the authors a bit of good, but more importantly, propagating to the general public, a bit of the the "knowledge", the difference between a genuinely good crime book and a heap of crap?

Mine is still to this date the only Amazon.uk review of this book up there...and frankly that's a bloody disgrace...If you want these books to be genuinely appreciated for what they are...if you want the authors to be encouraged to publish another one, then pull your bloody finger out and do something!

I'm not suggesting you falsely promote a book...just make an effort and give some genuine fedback!

Sermon over

All the best

Dave

[Howard Brown]

Dave:
Thanks for those words and I agree...we ought to do more for our people.

I posted my review just now, Dave....





Jack the Ripper
~Yale University Press
(3)

Outstanding, April 24, 2014
By Howard Brown

This review is from: Jack the Ripper: The Forgotten Victims (Hardcover)
Messrs Begg and Bennett have put together an excellent work. Not only will the book provide much new information for the average person with a marginal or above average interest in crime, but many a Ripperologist (such as myself ) will be delightfully surprised ( such as I was ! ) reading seldom seen information and facts related to crimes such as the Estina Crawford ( 1888 ) murder and the Gateshead (1888) Murder case....as well as murders outside of the canonicals ( Nichols, Chapman, Stride, Eddowes, and Kelly), such as Clay Pipe Alice Mackenzie, Frances Coles, and several other murder victims.
Highly recommended.
Sincerely
Howard Brown
Proprietor
Jack The Ripper Forums

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Here's what I thought about Jack the Ripper The Forgotten Victims (from my own notes):

"A look at non canonical victims who may, or may not, have been Ripper victims. Some of these women, Martha Tabram for instance, may have actually been killed by Jack the Ripper, whilst others, like Estina Crawford, certainly weren't and Elizabeth Senior was never seriously considered. It is difficult, therefore, to see the actual point of the book other than ‘here are some dead women who someone, no matter how deluded, at some time, has suggested were killed by Jack the Ripper.’ And, really, are women like Emma Smith, Martha Tabram and Francis Coles truly “forgotten?” I would have to disagree. However, the book is well written and enjoyable to read, though not for the well-read enthusiast. Having said that, the chapter, American Swansong?, dealing with the Carrie Brown and Elizabeth Senior murders, was so filled with errors that I found it tough to read. The casual reader probably won’t notice, or likely care, but I found it to be a jarringly sloppy ending to an otherwise good book."

Wolf.

[Cogidubnus]

And with all due respect, (which I sincerely mean), apart from here, where does this review appear?

All the best

Dave

[Wolf Vanderlinden]

Hi Dave.

I get your point. However, mine is not a particularly flattering review and I'm not sure the authors need me criticizing their efforts on a larger stage like Amazon. The people here on this site have probably read the book (or should) and have their own opinions about it. Mine is just one opinion among others. On Amazon, however, criticism can, apparently, have an effect on rankings which in turn can affect sales (although one or two bad or middling reviews probably don't matter much). Fair enough or just a cop out?

Wolf.

[Lemonjelly]

Ok, just finished Tom's debut.

First off, I haven't participated or even read the thread discussing Toms book. This is because I wanted to immerse myself in it without having any preconceptions.

There's much to like in this book. Interesting notion to engage in a detailed examination of the events prior to the commencement of the Canonical murders. The book contains (in my very limited experience) possibly the most detailed examination of the Emma Smith murder, and subsequent Tabram murder. IME these 2 crimes achieve only a little more than footnote examination in most ripper books, so it is welcome to see these victims/events get several pages of scrutiny.

There's a good flow to the book. What I especially liked & found very stimulating, is the interconnections between the many characters I have read about so many times before. There is an excellent job done here of highlighting the personal links between so many names that I was familiar with. It generated a lot of thought here of the personal connections & community around whitechapel circa 1888. Much food for thought, especially the inter-personal relationships between the landlords, and also pearly poll et al, the closeness, proximity of these people to each other. This book really highlighted for me the overlap of the many characters involved in this subject, and the relationships between people. Perhaps that says slightly more about my lesser knowledge of the case than most posters.

The book does contain (imo) a LOT of supposition. That isn't meant to be a huge criticism, as explanations are generally given, & much of the supposition is very reasonable. Some sections are a little more heavily based on supposition. In fairness, Tom is pretty clear on areas where he is putting forward suppositions & gives reasons for these, so whilst I may have not agreed with all suppositions, I could understand (almost always) why they were being made. The level of supposition contained does detract a little, for me, in the use of the word "true" in the books title. (In example, I'm still struggling a bit with the "shadow man" concept).

The re-examination of Pearly Poll in particular was very interesting. I feel that similar detailed examination of other characters known in whitechapel in 1888 will be essential in producing more information of high relevance, and will help us to understand the autumn of terror better. I appreciate that many articles are produced in dissertations or magazines such as ripperologist, but having the length of a book on such characters creates a lot more food for thought. The discussion of the landlords & the relationships between them was also very interesting, & worthy of further investigation I feel.

The sections relating to Nicholls & Chapman, whilst relevant did feel a little to me to distract me a little from the first 3 or 4 chapters of the book. I think the information on them, & the relevance to the subject was relevant, but perhaps could have been laid out slightly differently, perhaps as an appendix or similar. As there is a fairly larger amount of information on these 2, it did seem to unbalance the book a tiny bit.

However I have to say much of the book was very refreshing. I am looking forward to epistles 2 & 3 on Stride & especially the large overview of the whole case. I've been arguing with myself about which I'd like to see first!

[Cogidubnus]

Hi Lemonjelly

That's a pretty thorough personal review, written about as honestly as it's possible to be...so is it up there on Amazon?

All the best

Dave

[Cogidubnus]

Hi Dave.

I get your point. However, mine is not a particularly flattering review and I'm not sure the authors need me criticizing their efforts on a larger stage like Amazon. The people here on this site have probably read the book (or should) and have their own opinions about it. Mine is just one opinion among others. On Amazon, however, criticism can, apparently, have an effect on rankings which in turn can affect sales (although one or two bad or middling reviews probably don't matter much). Fair enough or just a cop out?

Wolf.

Hi Wolf

As you say it's not a particularly flattering review - but it's an honestly written review and surely ought, therefore, to be available to be read by anybody intending to spend money and buy the book...

All the best

Dave