Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Moving Beyond the “Great” Men

The Problem with Great Men by Hallie Rubenhold

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A couple of weeks ago an essay that Hallie Rubenhold had presented for the Edinburgh International Book Festival in 2020 as part of the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction Lecture came to my attention, and I slid it into the TBR. The Problem with Great Men hits on so many of the things that are bothering me professionally these days and reminds me why I got into the work of public history in the first place.   Rubenhold lays out how nearly 200 years ago (1840 to be exact) essayist Thomas Carlyle gave his lecture series “On Heroes […]

Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen

Story of a Murder: The Wives, the Mistress, and Dr. Crippen by Hallie Rubenhold

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Wow. I really loved Rubenhold’s other historical novel following the women who were victims of Jack the Ripper. This one felt very separate and I didn’t feel like I got any particular insight into his second wife Cora at all. I wish that we hadn’t spent so much time devoted to Crippen’s mistress. It seemed very obvious to me she knew what Crippen did. I wish we had followed up with her family a bit more. I do have to say that this is the […]

Five stars for The Five. Plus, a quadruple BINGO and board blackout!

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

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CBR15 BINGO (QUADRUPLE BINGO AND BINGO BLACKOUT): History, because it tells the true, untold history of the women murdered by Jack the Ripper Vertical bingo: South America, Dwelling, Hold Steady, Strange Worlds, History Horizontal bingo: History, Bodies, Bodies, Adulthood, Edibles, Europe Diagonal bingo: History, Queer Lives, North America, Violence, Sex 4 corners and center square: South America, Sex, Europe, History, North America I’m a fan of historical true crime stories, particularly those that happened before the 20th century; however, I have never read a book […]

All that glitters is not gold…

The Covent Garden Ladies: The Extraordinary Story of Harris's List by Hallie Rubenhold

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I came to this both this book and to Hallie Rubenhold after inhaling Harlots on Starzplay (where the incomparable Samantha Morton’s décolletage should get a starring credit all of its own) which was inspired by this book, which was itself inspired by the notorious Harris’s List –a who’s who of the ladies whose time and bodies who could be bought in 18th century England. The Covent Garden Ladies charts the careers of three figures who were linked to the list – the pimp John Harrison […]

“They began their lives in deficit. Not only were most of them born into working-class families, but they were born female. Before they had even spoken their first words they were regarded as less important than their brothers and more of a burden in the world than their wealthier female counterparts. Their worth was compromised before they had even attempted to prove it.”

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

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People have been fascinated by Jack the Ripper for over a century now, and we’ve long come to accept as fact certain things about the case – more specifically, we all think of his victim type as sex workers. Historian Hallie Rubenhold is here to change that with this incredible book that delves into the lives of Polly Walker, Annie Chapman, Lizzie Stride, Catherine Eddowes, and Mary Jane Kelly, letting us know who they really were while also giving us a window into what Victorian […]

“The victims of Jack the Ripper were never ‘just prostitutes’; they were daughters, wives, mothers, sisters, and lovers. They were women. They were human beings, and surely that in itself is enough.”

The Five: The Untold Lives of the Women Killed by Jack the Ripper by Hallie Rubenhold

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When I think back to my experiences as an undergrad history major I was often one of very few, if not the only, women in the room. Each course was the same; walk in, pick a position near the front of the room, but off to the side so as to not be considered aggressive but not be lost in the sea of testosterone, and hunker down to have to talk over those who would talk over you. I eventually got to a place of […]



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