Dr Kat and Hallie Rubenhold's "The Five" 

I just finished watching your video and went immediately to Amazon to buy this book. Thank you for the recommendation! I agree wholeheartedly that it is the victims who should be remembered and not the perpetrator. I recently came across your channel and I’m loving it. Thank you for bringing history to life for me.

I discovered "The Five" recently and have just begun reading it. It's exactly as I suspected; these women are full-out, 3-dimensional characters who had hopes, dreams, losses, and misgivings about the lives they were given to live. In 1888, men held the golden ticket, not women. And without pedigree, or a marriage of status, struggle was the name of their game. Thanks to Hallie Rubenhold, we see that it is they, not the fiend, who are the drivers of the legend, and they in their number are who make the dark fascination so compelling for the hoards of "Ripperologists" down through (now) three centuries. The dread we feel in the run up to each crime is a question that will NOT sit quiet: Who are these women, but your sister, your mother, your daughter, your friend-all with the misfortune to have been born at a time when their own violent demise was dismissed as something they brought upon themselves? So yes, I can't wait for the end of each work day so I can scurry home and read, "The Five." Thanks for your coverage of this important book, Dr. Kat!

Thank you for remembering the victims. Too often victims, especially women who are murdered by this type of misogynistic psychopath, are forgotten. Here in Canada on 06 December 1989 fourteen women were massacred at the École Polytechnique in Montreal. Their "crime"? Being women in an engineering program (and actually one was in the nursing program and one worked for the university but their murderer neither knew nor cared about that). In many places, especially, for example, near science buildings at universities, but also in parks, etc. memorials have been created for these women. This was one of the first times in my life that I realized that I could be murdered for being a woman (and I was in the process of applying to a science program at my local university). It was also among the first times that people, largely women, started calling on us to focus on the victims rather than the perpetrators of this type of crime. December 06 has since been federally designated as a National Day of Remembrance and Action Against Violence Against Women. Our governments and many social organizations mark this day (celebrate seems to be the wrong word), and name the women who were killed. They have also begun acknowledging other women who have suffered gender-based violence, focusing on the victims and survivors rather than the perpetrators. Every year I, and many of my friends, post memorials to these 14 women on our social media pages. It is time and past time that we start naming and discussing the victims rather than giving fame to the perpetrators. The fourteen women, may they rest in peace, are: Geneviève Bergeron, Hélène Colgan, Nathalie Croteau, Barbara Daigneault (born 1967), Anne-Marie Edward, Maud Haviernick, Maryse Laganière, Maryse Leclair, Anne-Marie Lemay, Sonia Pelletier (born 1961), Michèle Richard, Annie St-Arneault, Annie Turcotte, Barbara Klucznik-Widajewicz

My grandmother was born on Valentines Day 1890 in a handson cab on London Bridge after her mother was sacred by a man who accosted her on her way out a theatre where her husband had been conducting. Even after all that Jack had done, men thought that could still scare women in this way. Unfortunately there was a "pea souper" that night and my grandmother was premature and suffered with breathing problems all her life, despite that she went on to be a nurse and a wife and mother. Well done Clara (Dolly)

Oh you did it!! Thank you SO much 😊 As far as your discussion at the end of the video, it is heartbreaking that attitudes towards sex workers, and women in general, are still so similar. The world has not changed as much as we often hope and I find that frightening and demoralizing. This book, and your video, are so valuable in opening eyes. I’ll most definitely be sharing

I just finished this book, brilliant!! I study serial predators and learning about their victims is key. This book give dignity to these unfortunate women.

I read this book when it first came out in the US and thought it was absolutely fantastic. It gave a thorough cultural history of the time and such depth of research on these women's individual histories. Elizabeth Stride's story, in particular, struck me as most heartbreaking. Personally, I have a fascination with Victorian true crime and find Kate Summerscale's "The Suspicions of Mr. Whicher" and "The Wicked Boy" quite fascinating reads as well.

Just ordered it. Thanks a lot for recommending this, and for being so passionate about women's rights. It's hard to stomach, but we still need those discussions. I wonder whether we ever won't.

So many wise words, more reviews please!

Just discovered your channel and love your videos! I studied history in college for a time before I switched to majoring in English literature. Even though I chose to not become a historian by profession, I still love to learn about history, so thanks! I think you're correct in the sense that we tend to look for ways to scrutinize the actions of victims because if we can find something that they did wrong, we can keep ourselves safe. Of course, we need to stop this train of thought and realize that nobody deserves this kind of fate, regardless of their choices.

I’ve been binge watching you! A breath of fresh air! Bought the book in the first two minutes of your video, if you like it it has to be good.

Dear Dr. Kat, your passion & enthusiasm is infectious👏🏻👏🏻. I love how many people in this comment section say they are going to read this particular book. That must be so gratifying as a "teacher"✌🏻.

Congratulations on this presentation, I paused a few minutes in and asked myself the names of the five women... after watching and reading numerous documentaries and text on the case, I'm ashamed to say I could remember only two. I'm ordering the book now and am eagerly anticipating learning what it long over due.

Finished it this morning (audio and ebook) - it is wonderfully narrated and beautifully written. Twice, whilst listening, I realised I was crying. The killer (not Jack the Ripper, that was a journalistic invention) was a scumbag, best forgotten. These women were interesting, although ultimately tragic. One of the best history books I have read in a very long time (along with Emma Southon's bio of Agrippina).

This kind of book-- an examination of the lives of normal people in history and not the rich and privileged among them--is exactly the kind of history I love to read (tragic though these five particular lives were). Thank you for the recommendation and the discussion, I can't wait to read it!

I just got this book. It is not yet available in america, so I had to have shipped here. Love it. The authors descriptions of the time and place is phenomenal. I am so glad you recommended this book!!!

i listened to ‘the five’ on audible thanks to your recommendation, it was absolutely fantastic! thank you as always dr kat

Your recommendation just put this at the top of my “gotta read list “ , thanks bunches 🥇

I'm just listening to the audiobook, having remembered this video. Only a few chapters in and I have a vivid view of the utter squalor lived in by ordinary people; and the sadness of Polly Nichol's descent into poverty after living a good family life until her circumstances changed. Polly, to me, is no longer a mutilated corpse, but a living breathing and feeling woman fighting for daily survival. A great listen, thank you, as I might have missed out! xx

I, too, went to Amazon and purchased this book. Thank you, Kat, for your VERY interesting and informative videos. I never had much of an interest in English history until I started watching your content. Now I'm fascinated and hooked!

I have been considering listening to the audio book, but was a little hesitant thinking it might graphically describe their tragic deaths. After watching your review, I will definitely be listening to it. Thank you for all you do!

Just wanted to say, that as a teenager I found history as an academic study difficult, my tutor was an amazing teacher but no matter her efforts I found it difficult to engage and understand the subject. A few months ago I discovered your channel, and found an avid interest in this subject, so I want to say thank you for your content, its always a pleasure to watch and learn from.

Best book I’ve read this year. Everything about it is utterly compelling.

I read "The Five" a few months ago. It was quite moving and informative in many ways, but the reason I'm posting is to mention that it brought to mind the 1913 novel by Marie Belloc Lowndes, "The Lodger," which has been adapted several times. While that novel is very clearly based on Jack the Ripper and the publicity around the murders, it never suggests that the victims were engaged in sex trade, instead says that the murdered women were down and out alcoholics. I thought when I read "The Lodger" that the change was made as a concession to public prudishness, i.e.out of a wish not to lose any potential book buyers by the slightest mention of sex. Having read "The Five," I think perhaps Belloc Lowdnes had more of a point than I realized, whether or not it was her intent. While I'm here, I will just say that "The Lodger" holds up very well as an entertaining book which is also informative about the ins and outs of letting rooms as a source of income in late nineteenth/early twentieth century London.

I had not heard about this book until watching your video. I am now going off to get the audiobook version to listen to on my journeys to and from my COVID19 solitary confinement at my work place. On another topic entirely, I have an MA in Public History which I did more for my own interest rather than any late in life career change. I am very glad that I stumbled over your channel which brings English history to the public in a fun and interesting manner. Maybe this is a project that I could emulate to do the same for Australian History when I retire. Keep up the great work! You're doing a brilliant job.

Bought this book on your recommendation - have ancestors from the area - love your videos

So glad you loved this as much as I did snd shared this video. I was not only pleased to hear the truth about these ladies but the incredible detail on f the social history. I am now obsessed with 1880’s London and the Match Girls place in history.

I will absolutely read "The Five". What a gem your channel has turned out to be. The RU-vid algorithm sends me a lot of nonsense but sometimes it leads me to something wonderful. Not only are your videos entertaining, they're inspiring. They're firing up the old synapses and I feel the dusty old machine coming back to life! Fifteen years ago I left school because I couldn't work full time, go to school and care for my family. In these times it's natural to take stock and I've started hearing the siren calls of literature and history again. Thank you for the inspiration and for firing up my curiosity! P.S. I am almost certain you have gained a thousand subscribers in one day. ONE DAY! Congratulations, you are most deserving of the attention!

Couldn’t wait, bought it on kindle. Have almost finished it. What an eye opener to read about the lives of these women, how circumstances could alter a woman’s life, could change it from one day to the next. Thank you for the recommendation.

Thankyou Dr Kat, I love the well deserved respect that you give to these ladies by talking about them as three dimensional people who had families, jobs, hopes and dreams. I'm so tired of victim blaming and the glorifying of worthless psychopathic misogynists. I devoured the books by Neil Macgregor which you recommended and have today ordered a copy of this book. Sadly when you were reading the summing up statement I had a sick feeling that it was made by a male judge from recent times. I know that we enjoy more privilege today but I don't believe that the justice system or general attitudes have changed much for the better.

In general, women when murdered are considered as being among the ‘less-dead’ and even more so when they are homeless or otherwise vulnerable. They are low-hanging fruit, easy pickings for any man to do with them what he will. Only when their deaths are multiplied do they carry the same weight as the murder of a man or as you state, ‘a good girl.’ Too bad that this book was not able to be titled “The One”. I hate that we continue to fetishize these killing for various reasons, including as abject lessons for good, little girls and as instructional manuals for misogynists. That being said, I freely admit to being utterly fascinated by serial killers. As a feminist, I want to try to excuse this as an exercise to uncover why men continue to kill women- but that is not entirely true. The whole titillation conundrum rears its ugly head and I don’t know what to do about that.

The Five is a truly amazing book. I agree it should be required reading for all late Victorian history students.

I'm really enjoying Hallie Rubenhold's "The Five", read by the author herself on Pushkin. I find myself immersed in these women's stories., and with a new appreciation for Victorian London and the East End. So cool having this peek into that time and place...and these women whose lives were lost are--in a sense--revivified through our apprehension of their world. Awesome work.

I've read this excellent book. It's about time the victims were recognized as real women with real lives that had value.

I just picked this up from the library. I haven't read much about this period or the murders but i love the detail and care she takes with telling the stories of these women

I read this about a year and a half ago and was amazed!!! Loved the book and recommended it all over the place and especially to all my female friends...

So ironic that I just purchased this book yesterday. But I guess, not so ironic. "Great minds" and all that. Your videos are pure pleasure. You have been there for me during some dark days, though you did not know it. So happy you discussed this subject. Would love more information about Henry Fitzroy. Wonderful video as usual.

I just bought this book. What a coincidence to find your review.

I have this on audio book and I loved it,, so well researched

I have just found you and I’m so impressed by the way you communicate history so normally. As an old school Londoner (family traced back to 1600 all based in Camden Town ) I absolutely love history...but feel sometimes totally disconnected when it’s communicated by a majority of pale stale, posh men who have a knack in excluding the average jo”s especially working class women. I love Lucy worsley and you are totally in that calibre.So happy to have found you. Thank you for reigniting my passion for history again ❤️

I think the quote at the end from the judge might be intending to say just what you are, namely that regardless of how anyone else feels about the choices they made in their lives (assuming they did make them) that never excuses or justifies what was done to them, and that is the most important thing to bear in mind about them, above every other thing we think we know. Michelle D.

Dear Dr. Kat, what a good video! I have thoroughly enjoyed it. I must admit that this is the first time I have heard of, "The Five." However, now I can hardly wait to read it! Thanks for another awesome video!

I loved this book! Hallie Rubenhold's meticulous research is fantastic. Each woman is brought to life as fully fleshed out person. I really felt myself being transported back to Victorian times. Thanks for the great review which inspired me to pick this book up from my local library.

I've had this book waiting in my cart for awhile now. Thank you for your honest review, I will be purchasing it soon! I've only recently discovered your channel in the last few days and I have found so much of the information helpful. Thank you so very much for sharing your passion!

I plan on getting this book. It sounds fascinating. My favorite part of your commentary was when you mentioned how women had to be made into the villain due to our own fears. If we could make these women, and the lives they led, seem so apart from our lives, then this could never happen to us. That was very insightful and I feel it’s the truth of the matter. Thank you for your recommendation.

Just purchased for my kindle. When Dr. Kat says a book should be mandatory reading for fans of the victorian period I listen. Thank you for the review and recommendation.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book when I read it about 3-4 months ago. It's certainly about time that these five women had their place in history remembered and understood. They should not, and will never be again for me, overshadowed by their murderer.

Loved your review of this book. Sounds like it provides a much needed perspective, and I’m definitely adding it to my reading list. It’s important to remember these women as the people they were, and it’s inexcusable that their humanity has been so long overlooked.

This book is fascinating. The Ripper victims have been so misrepresented. I’m glad someone has finally told their stories. This book also helped me better understand the circumstances that my great-great-grandmother found herself in. In the early 1870s she was a young woman with a trade, but then found herself a widow with four small children. By the 1880s she had arrests for both vagrancy and being drunk and disorderly. How she could fall so far so fast makes far more sense after reading this book. It was mostly by luck that she didn’t suffer a similar fate to the women in this book.

Hi Kat, I wholeheartedly agree with you about this book. I read it during the summer and like you I flew through it. Utterly brilliant and eye opening

You are an "Amazing Teacher"!

WOW! I will get the book! But want I wanted to add something about the early 1980s. I lived in Bradford West Yorkshire, I moved there to work at one of the hospitals as a Staff Nurse. I knew about the killings that had occurred in the area, but like historical ‘Jack the Ripper case’ the victims were presented as ‘working women, who used their bodies to earn money to feed themselves and children, not all the victims did have children. I lived away from the hospital at first, which meant I walked to and from work. My flat was on the edge of a ‘red light area’, which caused concern for all. The street lighting was good, on the whole, I occasionally got a lift back home, as some of my colleagues worried about me. What I do remember is the underlying level of fear, even before I started working there. I was asked by friends in Newcastle about my choice of new job. Fortunately the Yorkshire ripper was caught and is safely in an institution. The families of his victims were able to put a name and a face to the perpetrator. The historical ripper remains anonymous!

another brilliant video - thank you dr kat... i am actually addicted to your videos & channel as you tell the story behind the facts. at school my favourite teacher was my history teacher because like you her passion shone through when she told us about the people behind the dates & events bringing the past to life. thank you again for being so imformative & entertaining & taking the time to make the wonderful videos you share with us on youtube x thank you

I know this video is a year old, but I just read this book recently and loved it. I'm glad it has been written. I found particularly interesting to learn more about the "social security" that existed in these times, like the workhouses with obligatory school for children, the measures put in place for the women in the case of separating couples, the decriminalisation of drunkenness etc. Although none of the measures were adequate or sufficient (these women's stories are a testament to these measures' failures), I could see the beginnings (emphasis on beginnings) of a shift in perspective on poverty and the role of society in maintaining or reducing poverty and its consequences (that could be an interesting video, the history of social security!). I liked that the author gave each of these women their section, their time, even the one we knew little about, and went back to the previous generation to emphasise that these women's situation was not because of a fault in character, but because they had, as we say today, baggage.

Thank you so much for this recommendation! I went immediately to buy it! I look fwd to learning more about these women!

I read the book and it is well-researched. I get to learn how things were for the women in the Victorian era.

I got a Kindle for my birthday this summer and this book was the first one I read as it was part of the KindleUnlimited. I loved it so much and it was really confronting to realize that nearly all the books about the murders are more about the killer than the victims who we definitely know more about. I highly recommend reading that book first before reading any other book about the Whitechapel Murders to help keep that particularly frame of mind.

My maternal grandmother was born just off the Mile End Road in 1905. There must have been talk about the Ripper killings when she was growing up. She was evacuated to the Midlands at the onset of WW1 and never went back.

Half way through this excellent book ,life was so hard for women of that era especially working class ,I found Annie chapmans story very sad ,I did shed a tear but all their stories were sad ,the writer also gives good history of just how hard life was ,these ladies now have their stories told ......

I love hearing the background stories of fascinating people in our history with a further follow to a book! Most interesting! Thank you.

I'm currently listening to her podcast Bad Women, and it's SO GOOD. I might buy the book too since the pod is based on it :D great video ❤️

Well it’s been 4 years since your video and yes I am reading it. It’s very interesting and eye opening about this time and attitudes. I have a dear friend -(87) who’s grandmother lived in Whitechapel during all the ripper murders. Friend was to young to know to ask questions. Like a great aunt told me when I ask questions, “you sure are nosy “. Lol.

Excellent book. We need to learn how people lived in the past so the mistakes are not repeated. These women deserve to have their stories told. Thankyou for the recommendation, I bought the digital iBook version so I can read it anywhere

You are a wonderful writer. Keep up the great work!!

Thank you Dr Kat .. I thoroughly enjoyed this book too. It was very insightful, interesting and necessary. Necessary for us to see things from the victim’s perspective.

Just purchased the audio book of "The Five". Can't wait to listen to it. Thank you for sharing this.

I found this episode absolutely stunning! Thank you Katrina! you bring the past to life so vividly and this video for sure zooms the past into our present! I have just bought the book on Amazon and cannot wait to read it! x

Based on this video, I purchased The Five. Thank you for the recommendation. An easy read but very informative.

I listened to the audiobook read by Louise Brealey, who many will know as Molly Hooper in the Cumberbatch Sherlock TV series. It's a great reading of an amazing book. I wonder if Victorian London isn't actually poorly served by Charles Dickens. His amusing caricatures are so charming and his language and stories so lively and upbeat they seem to varnish an era that for many (if not most) was, in reality, absolutely brutal. This book was a revelation for me. Thanks for the video - look forward to more!

I am so excited to read this book. I'm getting it for christmas and I can't wait for christmas day when others will watch the children and after dinner when everyone else is dozing I will have my nose firmly lodged into it and won't be moving until I have read it cover to cover

I really enjoyed this book. Their lives were fascinating. Giving the victims a voice is so important and in a way bringing them justice. By making them more important than the man who killed them.

Hi Dr. Kat!! I just recently found you on RU-vid. I find your videos interesting! I plan on reading The Five!!

I bought that book in Edinburgh in May 2019 while on vacation. It's riveting and chock full of enlightening cultural and social information for the time.

Just bought the audiobook. Thank you for the recommendation!

This is brilliant! I can't stop watching Dr Kat.. wish I'd had this kind of history content at school 👌

I rarely mention to people that I have a huge collection of books on the Whitechapel murders, as well as many about Victorian era crime in general! I will order this one right away. I used to dedicate my downstairs guest bathroom to my collection and it was a bit amusing to have guests go in and come back after 20 minutes with a very strange look on their faces.

Just downloaded it on audible. High time this sort of thing was published!

I was both a little annoyed and very happy when this book came out because I had been writing a book about the 5 victims myself 😂😂 maybe one day I will finish my book

Required reading for anyone studying the Victorian Era? I'm in! Can't wait to read it! Thanks! I'd have never known about it if you hadn't chosen this topic!

I was just told about this book today and just found this video on the same day! How ironic!

What a marvellous thing to do. I need to read the book

I have always said how wrong it is that the women are instantly named prostitutes as if it's a lesser murder

Currently this is available on kindle unlimited in the US. So even more reason to read this.

Spooky, i st watched your vid on the women of the eadtvend, 1888, and had no idea of the topic of this one so I clicked on. Perfect complement. Go girl. Michelle D.

I don’t usually buy non fiction on audible as you can’t just, “ hold the moment”, to just think about what you have been told without it becoming jerky and losing the flow. However there is a very nice freebie there of an interesting interview with Halle Rubenhold, her voice reflecting her parentage of British father and American mother. I am buying the book instead. Also it means I have a parcel to look forward to!

Well done someone must be their voice xxx

I somehow missed this one! I'm planning on reading it now...

I will defiantly read this book... thank you so much.

Quote from 2008 used to highlight activity of 1888 EXCELLENT!!! Still applies!!!

I think that the Victorians believed that “respectability” would protect them, and in some sense we still do. I know it didn’t protect me from kidnap, rape and violent abuse. It’s not about what the victims do or don’t do, it’s about what the criminals do to them. Yes, my personal life, from relationships to family to personal habits and health, was scrutinized in court to try to give the defending attorneys some kind of workable defense, but it didn’t work, the perp is in the clink. Victims of violence, show up and testify, it will be the hardest thing you ever do, but it’s so worth it, have courage. These evil perpetrators can only be stopped by us.

I’m heading to audible to purchase it now

I’m going to buy this book and read it thank you for speaking about it I would have no idea it existed if you hadn’t

I am in Hackney myself and I will definitely look into the Women of the East End once the lockdown is over. I love going to see anything interesting like this and see that they have done some stuff at Hackney. Thanks for the tip. I want to read the book too.

Just saw this, I am late to your channel. I have wanted exactly this book for a long time now. I have read many accounts of the crimes of the ripper and always wanted more on the victims. There have been very brief snippets here and there, but nothing of substance. I just ordered the book and am looking forward to learning more. Thank you!

Just added to my birthday list. Thank you

I've gone down the rabbit hole with your vlogs. This one is excellent. I appreciate the way you speak about the subject. I'm a new sub now. Thank you and great work.

Thanks for the review, Dr Kat. I wish I had seen this a year ago. In any case, I just placed a hold at my library for an electronic copy. I look forward to a good read.

I just found this video of yours. I am going to purchase this book. I am very interested in the Victorian era. Thank you for sharing. Peace!

In this context I would have assumed it was regarding the victims of Jack the Ripper. The fact that this fits the context for current crimes women suffer unfortunately does not surprise me.

I love your videos! I just ordered the book via kindle.