Depends what you're looking for really. Lots of books make their fame by providing new suspects. Cornwell's book falls in that category. I would suggest The Ultimate Jack the Ripper Companion: An Illustrated Encyclopedia by Stewart Evans and Keith Skinner (Carroll & Graf 2000). Both authors have written other Ripper books, but the intent here was to present the official records at length with a minimum of authorial intrusion. There are press articles, photos and drawings and the actual police reports. The book does a really good job of orienting the reader. It lacks Rumbelow's narrative flair, but it does reproduce primary and secondary sources without added interpretation, which is nice change from most books on the subject. One of the most useful books for my JTR purposes was Perry Curtis' Jack Ripper and the London Press (Yale U P, 2001). Not a speculation on the identity of the Ripper, but a great study on how the Ripper and the murders were perceived in his own time. If it is theories you're interested in there is also Jack the Ripper A to Z by Paul Begg, et al (Headline 1991). It is an exhaustive compilation of the people, theories and places that relate to the Whitechapel murders, no matter how nominally. The authors (all Ripperologists) are very free with their opinions, notably relating to any given theory. It does include 5 indices, one of which is a detailed listing of articles and books about JTR. It's certainly not required reading, but enlightening in its own way from a sociological point of view. Hope you find something useful. (Sorry I don't know how to underline or italicize in LJ ;_;)
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momijizukamori
JTR
Date: 2011-04-22 01:29 am (UTC)One of the most useful books for my JTR purposes was Perry Curtis' Jack Ripper and the London Press (Yale U P, 2001). Not a speculation on the identity of the Ripper, but a great study on how the Ripper and the murders were perceived in his own time.
If it is theories you're interested in there is also Jack the Ripper A to Z by Paul Begg, et al (Headline 1991). It is an exhaustive compilation of the people, theories and places that relate to the Whitechapel murders, no matter how nominally. The authors (all Ripperologists) are very free with their opinions, notably relating to any given theory. It does include 5 indices, one of which is a detailed listing of articles and books about JTR. It's certainly not required reading, but enlightening in its own way from a sociological point of view.
Hope you find something useful. (Sorry I don't know how to underline or italicize in LJ ;_;)