Jack the Ripper

There are an amazing number of books written on Jack the Ripper. Many of them push a particular suspect as the "final solution" to the "great unsolved mystery of all time." The reader should be wary of these many "final solutions" and" real stories." Other books are overviews of varying quality that review the crimes, investigation, evidence and evaluate the various suspects. Since new suspects and evidence are being unearthed all the time, it is best to read overview books that are of fairly recent publication.

The Crime Library particularly recommends Philip Sugden's The Complete History of Jack the Ripper as a very thorough, impressive and heavily documented source of Ripper information. Sudgen does not push a particular suspect as Jack the Ripper, rather he analyzes the evidence for each of the major Ripper suspects.

Another worthwhile overview book is Donald Rumbelow's The Complete Jack the Ripper. This book was updated in 1990 as Jack the Ripper: The Complete Case Book. Rumbelow is another major source for this feature story.

A&E Biography Video: Jack the Ripper; Phantom of Death

Other books mentioned in this bibliography represent books that are popular on the subject, are of relatively recent publication and, hence, comparatively easy to acquire by retail outlet and local library. Some of the books below are overview books and others champion a particular suspect.