In this remarkable book, the first in-depth biography of Edward VI I’s elder son — and heir to the throne, who died too young to succeed — Michael Harrison has combined his outstanding qualities both as historian and as detective. Official silence in the matter of "Prince Eddy’s" private life, with the consequent inability to consult official archives, forced Harrison to uncover the details of Eddy’s life without the advantage of any but the most trivial existing material. What he eventually unearthed and presents in this unique book will positively fascinate the reader.
In the past several years an extraordinary story has run around the world that Prince Eddy, Duke of Clarence, might have been Jack the Ripper. In testing the validity of this rumor, Michael Harrison has come up with some quite startling information about this notorious homicidal maniac. He actually identifies and names the ripper, explaining both the murderer and the motives for his horrible crimes.
Not only is the mystery of Jack the Ripper finally solved; Harrison goes further to tell the true story behind one of the most notorious court-cases of the last century: that revolving around the existence of a male brothel in the heart of London, one frequented by homosexual members of the nobility and upper classes. This book does not seek to create new scandals, for all the vice and crime necessarily described within this unique chronicle. Indeed, Michael Harrison treats the Duke of Clarence in a most sympathetic manner. This is the compassionate story of a weak, charming character, endowed with good looks, highest rank, bisexual, a doomed man whose self-indulgence involved far too many in scandal and tragedy. Above all, CLARENCE is a murder mystery, a detective story of the highest order, and one whose interest is heightened because it is entirely true.
e-Book, 216 pp. with Illos and Index
(Tina Rhea #51)
ISBN 978-1-55497-317-0
$10.00