This counts as the second historical biography about the Victorian Era that I have read this year. I put They All Love Jack into the same category as Something In The Blood (a Bram Stoker biography I read recently and enjoyed) because while one showed a beautiful portrait of Victorian England, the other shows the dark side of the era. The Whitechapel Murders have been studied, debated, ripped open, dissected, and pondered for over a century. The endless theories and conspiracies of one of the world's greatest murder mysteries have ranged from the plausible to the ridiculous. But the biggest question commonly asked by all is: who was Jack the Ripper?
.
.
They All Love Jack by Bruce Robinson, discusses a new theory about Freemasonry being a huge focal point in the Whitechapel Murders. It's not the first time Freemasonry has been associated with the case since there is the conspiracy theory with Prince Albert, but it's not at all the subject in the book. I won't give away the main reason for its discussion or the man that the author thinks was Jack the Ripper since I don't want to spoil those that haven't read it. The only thing I will say is that Bruce Robinson gives a lot of insight on how Freemasonry was in the Victorian era, and it's relationship with it's members. And he did a very good job representing that in his book.
.
.
I love how crude and informative the writing is. For someone that has read a lot of reference books on the Whitechapel Murders, I was really happy to read something on the subject that didn't read like a text book. The author does like to swear and curse, which I think added a lot to the narrative but I can understand if that may put someone off when reading it considering that this is a book about real murder. It didn't bother me, but if any of you are bothered by it then I suggest reading something different. As for the information he discusses, I think he wrote them down very well and made a lot of compelling arguments. Which makes sense since he researched and wrote They All Love Jack for 15 years before it was published. My only gripe with it is how disjointed the first chapter was, and that the end slacked on some things I wish were talked about more. If it didn't have those then my rating would've gone higher.
.
.
I personally don't think we'll ever find out who Jack the Ripper was. But that doesn't at all deter me from reading and studying the Whitechapel Murders. It is a fascinating and haunting event in history, one that I'm sure I'll always be interested in and respect. I recommend They All Love Jack for any True Crime enthusiast, it is a great book to add to ones collection.
4.5/5⭐️