The identity of Jack the Ripper, the man who mutilated and murdered a series of ‘fallen women’ in the Whitechapel area of London in 1888, is one of the most baffling mysteries in the history of crime.

Hoaxes, forgeries and false trails have clouded the hunt for Britain’s most notorious serial killer. But now, using the skills of contemporary forensic investigations, David Jessel uncovers sensational new evidence about the man who turns out to have been Scotland Yard’s prime suspect. For over a century his name has remained a secret and it may have been suppressed by Scotland Yard detectives who once had him in their grip, but let him slip away.

The trail to find out more about the man leads David Jessel from the slums of the East End to the splendour of Niagara Falls, revealing one of the most exotic figures of the age. Detectives at the time believed he was ‘Jack the Ripper’. As Secret History shows, they had good reason.