The facts in this case are so bizarre that no novelist would dare to invent them, according to thePhiladelphia Inquirer. More than a century before Jack the Ripper filled London with fear, another perpetrator held the city in his grip: a "vulgar-looking man" who attacked female passersby with a knife and uttered insults with remarkable excitement. During a crime spree of two years, more than fifty victims fell.
The city was gripped by fear and indignation, partly caused by a reward and the distribution of obscene prints that played on the perpetrator's tendencies. Armed citizens patrolled the streets and ladies wore cooking pots under their clothing for protection. In June 1790, Rhynwick Williams was arrested. After two absurd trials, in which he was among other things assisted by the eccentric Irish poet Theophilus Swift, he was convicted. Was he guilty, or merely the scapegoat of the authorities?
Jan Bondeson reconstructs this unique episode from crime history with dry humor and examines the phenomenon of "Monster mania" in the context of mass hysteria, both historical and modern. This publication is in Dutch, suitable for self-study and education. Intertaal is your reliable supplier and guarantees fast delivery.