Hallie Rubenhold is a social and cultural historian whose area of expertise lies in the history of London, crime and sex. As a critically acclaimed author whose works of non-fiction and fiction focus on women’s experiences, she is an authoritative and engaging voice offering a unique insight into the events of the past. Her book, The Five, is the first full length biography of the Jack the Ripper’s victims. Disregarded by society for over 130 years, The Five pieces together their individual stories and overturns much of the mythology surrounding their lives, including the belief that all of the women were involved in ‘prostitution’. The book became a Sunday Times Bestseller and won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction 2019.
Hallie has appeared as an expert contributor on many programmes, both for UK and International networks. She has contributed to the Travel Channel’s hit series Mysteries at the Museum and is a frequent guest on news and current event programmes, radio and podcasts. Her books have been adapted as television dramas – The Scandalous Lady W for BBC 2 and Harlots for ITV and Hulu.
For BBC Four: The Quizeum, a museum-based quiz show hosted by Griff Rhys Jones, Botticelli’s Venus: The Making of an Icon, looking at the history of the famous painting, Harlots, Housewives and Heroines, a series examining the history of women in the 17th century, The Beauty Of Maps, the documentary series looking at maps in incredible detail, The Ages of Excess: When Britain Went Too Far, a documentary which looks back at Britain during the 18th century, a time of sexual excess and liberation and the film magazine show, The Cinema Show.
For Channel 4: We Built Titanic, the challenge to rebuild integral parts of the legendary ship and The Untold Great Fire.
For BBC2: History Cold Case, the series which sees skeletons of everyday people from across the ages analysed in staggering detail and the word-hunting programme, Balderdash and Piffle ‘X’-Rated.
For Channel 5: London – 2000 Years Revealed, a series exploring the history of the capital city.
For Sky Living TV / Yesterday TV / History Channel: the paranormal series, Living with the Dead, Mud Men, which explores the archaeology of the River Thames, Find My Past, which features ordinary people’s quests to learn about their extraordinary ancestors, as well as Red Hot History, profiling the life of Casanova and MSNBC’s Haunted London.
In 2006 the BBC created a 30-minute documentary entitled The Harlots Handbook based on Hallie’s book The Covent Garden Ladies which was broadcast as part of BBC4’s The Century That Made Us season. As the presenter of the documentary, Hallie took the audience on a journey through the dark streets of the Georgian underworld.
Hallie has also been a consultant and historical expert advising on dramas such as Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell (BBC), The Harlot’s Progress and City of Vice (Channel 4).
Hallie has spent much of her life between the UK and the US. She received her B.A. in History from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and an M.A. in British History and History of Art from the University of Leeds. Remaining at Leeds, she embarked on her studies for a PhD and later completed her thesis on the subject of marriage and child-rearing in the eighteenth century. She has worked as a curator at the National Portrait Gallery, as an art dealer, and has taught history and history of art (c. 1660 – 1830) for a number of British and American academic institutions.
