The Ripper Legacy: The Life and Death of Jack the Ripper

xiii, 208 pp. The gruesome series of five unsolved murders of prostitutes in Whitechapel, London during the autumn of 1888, has always haunted the public's imagination. There have been many attempts to identify the murder, but until now none has been entirely credible. The achievement of Martin Howells and Keith Skinner lies in the integrity and tenacity of their investigates. They invite us to share the frustrations and the triumphs of their five years' quest to reveal the real identity of Jack the Ripper. Amongst the suspects are some of the most eminent gentlemen of the age, including Queen Victoria's presumptive heir, the Duke of Clarence, and his Cambridge tutor, and lover, J.K. Stephen. By sifting through the theories and legends which have shrouded the Whitechapel murderer, the authors unveil seemingly inept behaviour on the part of the authorities investigating the case. Why are there so many files missing? Who was protecting whom? The authors focus on one of the principal murder suspects--a man whose own untimely death became one of the most closely guarded secrets of the age. As a result, nearly a century after the event, Howells and Skinner provide incontrovertible proof of the Ripper's identity--the substance behind the spectral figure who once terrorized the women of London's East End. Had the murderer's identity been exposed Victorian society would have been scandalized, both by his homosexuality and his links with royalty. The legacy of mystery and intrigue emanating from Whitechapel was thus firmly established for future generations.