They All Love Jack cover art

They All Love Jack

Busting the Ripper

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They All Love Jack

By: Bruce Robinson
Narrated by: Bruce Robinson, Phil Fox
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A book like no other – the tale of a gripping quest to discover the identity of history’s most notorious murderer and a literary high-wire act from the legendary writer and director of Withnail and I.

For over a hundred years, ‘the mystery of Jack the Ripper’ has been a source of unparalleled fascination and horror, spawning an army of obsessive theorists, and endless volumes purporting finally to reveal the identity of the brutal murderer who terrorised Victorian England.

But what if there was never really any ‘mystery’ at all? What if the Ripper was always hiding in plain sight, deliberately leaving a trail of clues to his identity for anyone who cared to look, while cynically mocking those who were supposedly attempting to bring him to justice?

In THEY ALL LOVE JACK, the award-winning film director and screenwriter Bruce Robinson exposes the cover-up that enabled one of history’s most notorious serial killers to remain at large. More than twelve years in the writing, this is much more than a radical reinterpretation of the Jack the Ripper legend, and an enthralling hunt for the killer. A literary high-wire act reminiscent of Tom Wolfe or Hunter S. Thompson, it is an expressionistic journey through the cesspools of late-Victorian society, a phantasmagoria of highly placed villains, hypocrites and institutionalised corruption.

Polemic, forensic investigation, panoramic portrait of an age, underpinned by deep scholarship and delivered in Robinson’s inimitably vivid and scabrous prose, THEY ALL LOVE JACK is an absolutely riveting and unique book, demolishing the theories of generations of self-appointed experts – the so-called ‘Ripperologists’ – to make clear, at last, who really did it; and more importantly, how he managed to get away with it for so long.

19th Century Europe Great Britain Modern Murder True Crime Crime Exciting Thought-Provoking Scary England
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Critic reviews

‘Rarely has a book on Jack the Ripper been written with such visceral anger: anger at Jack, at “Ripperology”, at the establishment, and anger at the police cover-up that allowed one of the world’s most infamous serial killers to remain free … One has to admire Robinson’s chutzpah. Most academic historians would break into a cold sweat at the very idea of publishing such an outrageous claim. But his research is undoubtedly impressive and has taken some 15 years … A bloody good read’ Guardian
‘Robinson’s achievement isn’t in revealing the Ripper but in writing the most involving, audacious and wonderfully bonkers book of the year’ Irish Times
‘A strange, mind-boggling mixture … Anyone coming blind to the book might think it a collaboration between Dr David Starkey and Johnny Rotten’ Mail on Sunday
‘Over the years, the figure of the Ripper has become commodified: a cartoon-like Victorian cheeky chappy who kills with a twinkle in his eye. Robinson reclaims the identity and humanity of the victims, and ensures that nobody who reads this remarkable book will ever forget the true circumstances of these crimes. Whether the Ripper was or was not Michael Maybrick, They All Love Jack performs a most valuable moral service’ Daily Telegraph
‘Robinson emerges with his conspiracy – and how he runs with it, with glee, with humour, with disgust and with a weight of research his own. Nobody has written this well on Jack the Ripper before’ Gavin Corbett, Irish Times
‘A painstaking yet visceral account of Jack the Ripper’s life, murders and legend that reads like a reaction from a recently aggrieved party rather than a work of history. Robinson’s line is unswerving, amusing and potent’ Monocle
All stars
Most relevant
I've always been a fan of Bruce Robinson and of the Ripper mystery. This book is one of the most compelling, disgusting, rewarding, horrifying, frightening and enjoyable books I've ever read. A triumph of research and argument it is totally convincing in its thrust at solving this who done it if who done it's!!! 10/10 every time...I loved it!!!

A stunning work

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I really liked this book. it's hard punching and authority's need investigations made...they can stink

Biting..well researched

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Don't get me wrong, the narration is great, and the book is well researched; particularly as the historical, sociological and criminological facts and references are apt and correct. However, the hypothesis posed (essentially that "free-masons did it!") just gets tiresome and predictable... I'm sure the author (Bruce Robinson) would read this review and assume that it was conspired by the cult itself...

This book definitely is not enjoyable as an audiobook. But, I suppose it has uses for 'academic' purposes... I.e. it's best used in paper copy, and completely boring as an audiobook.

Yawn.

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Robinson nails it. this is a fascinating historical deconstruction of how the very entitled view morality. I believe that his expose' of the killer known as the Whitehall ripper is well researched. despite the straw man argument raised in knights book is constantly referred to by members of the craft, Robinson I believe asks members to contemplate that one of theirs did these murders but that should not be used by critics of freemasonry to condemn all lodge members or the craft. a truly fascinating book and very well narrated.

brilliant

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Anyone with even the slightest interest in the ripper murders really MUST read /listen to this supremely forensically researched book.The sheer blatant withholding of information and quite breathtaking avoidance by the powers that be of Masonic hints in the murders leaves a quite remarkable read . As for the “ nominee “ himself ...who can say ? But one thing this work does is completely blow the vast majority of the more preposterous candidates clean out of the water .The narration ( by the author himself) is nothing short of pitch perfect . Highly recommended

Remarkable body of work

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