The Escape of Jack the Ripper

For nearly 100 years, the question has repeatedly been asked: who was ‘Jack the Ripper’? The real question that should be answered, however, is why? Why were five poor, defenceless women savagely murdered in the slums of Whitechapel in the autumn of 1888? Credible Victorian sources including an Old Etonian police chief (Sir Melville Macnaghten), a famous writer on true crime (George R. Sims), a Conservative MP (Henry Farquharson) and, most incriminatingly, members of the killer’s own family knew that ‘Jack the Ripper’ was Montague John Druitt. He escaped earthly justice by drowning himself in the Thames. This book answers the question of why in 1888 Druitt, a barrister, part-time teacher and first-class cricketer, killed and mutilated women driven into prostitution through social neglect. Compiled from years of meticulous research, The Escape of Jack the Ripper moves from the suffering of impoverished Whitechapel to genteel London society, picturesque Dorset, the Inner Temple and