Donald Rumbelow has an excellent writing style and this is an easy to read and understand book. In particular, he does a great job of helping the reader understand the conditions in London's east end during this time of the old city's history. He also gives the reader a complete understanding of the limitations faced by police in the late 1800's. If no one saw the killer commit the crime, it was almost impossible to make an arrest.

This is a fairly short book as compared to other ripper books but there is a wealth of information. This would be an excellent book for someone just getting interested in the ripper for it is more of an introduction to the case than anything else. Rumbelow never really makes any attempt to solve the case. Instead he spends a lot of time showing the faults in other ripper writer's theroies. I think it was Sherlock Holmes who said that if you get rid of all the things that were impossible, what was left was the answer, no matter how improbable. I think that may be what Rumbelow is up to.

Truth be known, the section I enjoyed most was the chapter called "Beyond the Grave", which deals with ripper like killers who followed Jack. The Yorkshire and Dusseldorf rippers and Jack the Stripper for example. Their cases are not only highly interesting but also prove that the shadow of Jack the Ripper will be hanging over us for a long time.

I actually got to meet and discuss the murders with Mr. Rumbelow on a trip to London last summer, and it's not hard to see why he is considered by many well-thought-of historians and many of Hollywood's elite as the Official Jack The Ripper Historical Expert. For instance, he not only has an amazing amount of knowledge regarding details of the Ripper Case, but he was also a historical consultant for the 2002 film "From Hell", the most accurate Ripper film, to date. In this book, he paints a bleak yet comprehensive portrait of the case that has baffled historians and case-solvers, alike, for the past century. Highly recommended!

Mr Rumbelow's book is probably the most entertaining and well-written book available on the Whitechapel crimes yet produced. Although first published in 1975 it still seems fresher than most works on the subject today. Mr Rumbelow recounts many unknown about the Whitechapel/East End area at the time of the murders. Strange and interesting facts such as the local confectioner's of the time selling 'Leather Apron' toffee abound in this volume and makes for a very entertaining read. Mr Rumbelow himself is a police officer of 27 years experience and brings this knowledge to the fore in his examination of the slayings. A natural writer, he keeps the book pacy and fresh, having written previous works on police history/true crime. This book is most recommended, it was revised and reprinted in 1988 by Penguin Publishing and is invaluable to anyone studying the crimes of 'Jack the Ripper'. His examination of the suspects is exemplary and brings human feeling and warmth to the victims of the murderer, something which mo

This was the first book I read on Jack the Ripper. It was well written, and I will have to agree with the other reviewer, the first part is the best. Rumbelow did a wonderful and skillful job in setting the mood for the things to come. He also does a great job in going into detail about the murders. However, as later writers have pointed out, he uses a lot of secondary sources, like made up newspaper accounts, and fiction from some of the early writers of Jack the Ripper. It's a good book to begin with, but don't believe everything in the book as being pure fact. The fact is, some of the sources he used were bad, or he only viewed them and then they vanished. It is still a very good book. However, I would suggest Jack the Ripper the complete history by Philip Sugden, over this one.

This is easily the best book on Jack the Ripper I have read yet. Rumbelow adds a lot of background to the case study, including an early chapter on just how horrible the London slums were in Victorian times (far worse than anything out of Dickens). He also covers what the press and the police departments were doing as the case unfolded, which form interesting subplots of their own. The last half of the book is not quite as good as it wanders over a slew of suspects, a handful of later serial killers, and comments on a few media versions of the case. Still Rumbleow is thorough and objective and easily proves to be one of the leading Ripperologists working today.

I've had the distinct pleasure of taking Rumbelow's "Jack the Ripper" walking tour and of meeting him at the "2002 Jack the Ripper Conference." He is indeed the leading expert on the Ripper. His book covers all factual aspects of the crimes in depth. He espouses no theory or suspect, believing that the Ripper was someone in the neighborhood who wasn't famous and who will never be discovered. I highly recommend this book as the very best on Jack the Ripper.