Jack the Ripper and Abraham Lincoln
One man links the two greatest crimes of the 19th Century
by Tony McMahon
You must sign in to see if this title is available for request. Sign In or Register Now
Send NetGalley books directly to your Kindle or Kindle app
1
To read on a Kindle or Kindle app, please add kindle@netgalley.com as an approved email address to receive files in your Amazon account. Click here for step-by-step instructions.
2
Also find your Kindle email address within your Amazon account, and enter it here.
Pub Date May 28 2024 | Archive Date Jun 15 2024
Talking about this book? Use #JacktheRipperandAbrahamLincoln #NetGalley. More hashtag tips!
Description
The gripping and compelling story of how a member of the gang that assassinated President Abraham Lincoln went on to be a leading suspect in the Jack the Ripper killings of 1888
A fraudulent doctor, Francis Tumblety, is implicated in both the 1865 assassination of President Abraham Lincoln in Washington DC and the 1888 Jack the Ripper killings in the East End of London. It seems incredible but the compelling evidence is revealed in this book.
We delve into the murderous trail left by Tumblety – one that stretches from America’s Gilded Age to the poverty-ridden slums of London’s Whitechapel district – and explore the murky underworld which enabled his horrific crimes.
Tumblety was a flamboyant huckster, well known in the newspaper gossip columns though his celebrity masked his homicidal tendencies. He was arrested due to his clear links to the Lincoln assassination then released while others were hanged on the scaffold. Later, he was locked up by Scotland Yard as a prime Jack the Ripper suspect, but made a daring escape. The proof is overwhelming that Tumblety, a man who possessed a grisly collection of uteruses in a cabinet of curiosities, was undoubtedly Jack the Ripper.
About the author
Tony McMahon is an on-screen contributor and panellist for TV documentaries on history, science, and social/political issues. He is a former journalist and BBC producer who brings an investigative approach to topics as varied as UFOs/UAPs, Nazis and the occult, ancient empires and looking afresh at biblical mysteries. As an LGBT historian, he has written about sexual identity, exploring how people we now term LGBT would have survived in more challenging social environments. The idea to investigate Francis Tumblety arose after being invited to talk about Jack the Ripper on Sky History’s 2022 documentary series: William Shatner’s The Unexplained.
Available Editions
| EDITION | Paperback |
| ISBN | 9781805143642 |
| PRICE | £13.79 (GBP) |
| PAGES | 328 |
Available on NetGalley
Featured Reviews
Sierra G, Reviewer
The jack the ripper case is honestly so fascinating. Hearing different theories about who it was just adds to the plot of the story. This book brought a new theory that I've never heard of before and it's just so interesting
Gayle N, Reviewer
Self-styled 'Indian Herb Doctor', Francis Tumblety, has long been considered one of the suspect pool of people rumoured to have been Jack the Ripper. This book looks at Tumblety's life in both America & the East End of London, & finds that there is circumstantial evidence that suggests that he may have been involved in both the assassination of Abraham Lincoln & the Ripper killings.
Flamboyant & the consummate hustler, throughout his life Tumblety was in trouble with law for his 'confirmed bachelor' lifestyle (he was gay), yet mostly managed to skate on the charges thanks to his connections to the great & powerful. Despite Tumblety's later denials, one of the conspirators, David Herold, worked for him, & Tumblety had supposedly been seen in the company of John Wilkes Booth. Over twenty years later, Tumblety was known to be in England around the time of the canonical five Ripper murders. Indeed he was thought a possible suspect yet disappeared before he could be properly questioned.
I thought this was a very interesting read, with a lot of information about both the assassination & the Ripper murders that I had not read before. Tumblety has always been a peripheral suspect - mentioned but usually quickly discounted, & yet there are intriguing connections between him & both cases. The most compelling evidence to me is the collection of uteri that Tumblety was inordinately proud of alongside his noted hatred of women, & the two small brass rings which were similar to the ones reportedly removed from the body of Annie Chapman, one of the Ripper's victims. Alas, neither of these proves anything beyond conjecture. There's not a great deal of actual evidence of Tumblety's involvement in either case, but it is a very readable book. 3.5 stars (rounded up)
My thanks to NetGalley & publishers, Cameron Publishing & Marketing Ltd, for the opportunity to read an ARC.
Readers who liked this book also liked:
Jordan Riley Swan, Hero Bowen
General Fiction (Adult), New Adult, Sci Fi & Fantasy
