This week I republished my Jack the Ripper suspect encyclopedia through Kindle Direct, due to an issue with the original publisher. Times have changed. In the early 1990s I was taught that self-publishing was for failed writers who couldn’t convince publishers of their talent. The suspect encyclopedia passed that test but yet I still felt unable to rid myself of a stigma that has long since been proved false.

The best books about Jack the Ripper in the last decade have been published by the author or by a small publisher. The mainstream works are all best classified as disappointing to one versed in the subject. I decided to dipsense with my concerns by comparing them to, my second favourite topic, football.

This week the football headlines are about the FA Cup Final and Fulham replacing Bournemouth in the top division. Meanwhile Harrogate have arrived in the league, defeating Notts County, once the league’s oldest club. In the early 1990s County were in the top division. Bournemouth and Fulham were in the third.

Times have changed.