The Temple and the Lodge by Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh
This was touted as a great introductory novel about Freemasonry and the Templars. But so much of the book references other texts that the authors have assumed you already read. It’s not accessible, or written in a particularly appealling way. It reads like a bad history lesson from an introductory class lecture the professor has been teaching for over twenty years.
I didn’t know much about the Freemasons or the Templars. It gave me a good insight into some of what happened, but it presumed that I knew all about the Crusades and European History. Which I don’t. I am the product of an American public high school education.
The only parts that I came away with of any intrigue or import were about how Freemasonry was key in shaping the founding of the United States. The section on the Revolutionary War is brilliant. Essentially, none of the British wanted to fight the war, so the generals pretty much dogged it so that the Americans could run away and reconnoiter. At any time, they basically had the manpower and knowledge to take out Washington’s troops. But they didn’t want to, because they were all Freemason brothers. In fact, the British sabotaged one of their own generals, a gung-ho asshole who thought he could take out the foreign devils, at the Battle of Saratoga. I love any American history lessons that totally blow out any of the patriotism and jingoism that’s beaten into us at our early ages.
I know, I’m a damn dirty hippie. At least the Holy Blood, Holy Grail work they wrote about the Grail templars is much more accessible. This was just dry and unappealing. Avoid it.
