Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.18 AVERAGE
4.18 AVERAGE
dark
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Okay, so the focus was really on the victim's backgrounds. It was quite informative but I guess I was a bit disappointed when I realized it wasn't centered on the actual murder (I like forensic psych).
challenging
dark
informative
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
medium-paced
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Astounding level of research
Through many parts of this book, I found it to be rather slow and the material dry at times. Ultimately, after reflecting back and flipping through the footnotes, it is absolutely astounding how much research was out into this book. The author took great pains to paint portraits of the victims ' lives as accurately as possible. Every claim is backed by evidence, so much so that the sources cited takes up 30% of the size of the book. Thank you to the author for humanizing these women and showing how impossible everyday life was for them as women during those times.
Through many parts of this book, I found it to be rather slow and the material dry at times. Ultimately, after reflecting back and flipping through the footnotes, it is absolutely astounding how much research was out into this book. The author took great pains to paint portraits of the victims ' lives as accurately as possible. Every claim is backed by evidence, so much so that the sources cited takes up 30% of the size of the book. Thank you to the author for humanizing these women and showing how impossible everyday life was for them as women during those times.
Really interesting history of life and times of women and people in general as well as the 'canonical five'. Made me wonder what detail and nuance might have made the edits of countless histories, had a researcher like this been writing them: feminist, humane, non judgemental...
One of the most intensely researched history & crime books. I cannot fathom the records the author had to go through to catalog the lives of the five victims of Jack the Ripper. For that alone, it would be worth the read.
But the thesis of the book is also outstanding. The concept that the Ripper's victims were all prostitutes has colored their perception for over a century, and allowed for media and historians to dismiss them wholesale.
Rubenhold deftly weaves the stories of five women into a narrative of late Victorian womanhood. Their tragedy is almost Dickensian, but there is solace that at last, their lives have been memorialized. Required reading for Ripperologists and casual historians alike.
But the thesis of the book is also outstanding. The concept that the Ripper's victims were all prostitutes has colored their perception for over a century, and allowed for media and historians to dismiss them wholesale.
Rubenhold deftly weaves the stories of five women into a narrative of late Victorian womanhood. Their tragedy is almost Dickensian, but there is solace that at last, their lives have been memorialized. Required reading for Ripperologists and casual historians alike.