The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail - Lincoln Baigent, Leigh Baigent

After reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (separate review), I remembered that my dad had read a book back in the 1980's which is mentioned in Brown's book. This was "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". Between Brown's book, the controversy associated with it, and my good friend Steerpyke's review, I felt compelled to get a hold of this book and read it. After asking my dad if he still had the book so I could read it, I found it on the ...
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Initially, the authors of this book were to make a documentary about the Holy Grail. After much research and many developments, they decided that the documentary just was not enough, and so this book was eventually written. When it was initially published in 1982, there was a fair bit of controversy and many branded the authors heretics. But true to their own beliefs, they stuck by their guns and won the respect of many witin ... more

After reading Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code (separate review), I remembered that my dad had read a book back in the 1980's which is mentioned in Brown's book. This was "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail". Between Brown's book, the controversy associated with it, and my good friend Steerpyke's review, I felt compelled to get a hold of this book and read it. After asking my dad if he still had the book so I could read it, I found it on the shelves of my local supermarket. Well, I have to admit that I grabbed a copy as quickly as I could and went home to start reading. It certainly was an eye-opener for me! So here goes.....

Book Info
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ISBN Number = 0 09 968241 9
Published by Arrow Books for Random House
Website = www.randomhouse.co.uk
Price = £8.99 (UK), $14.99 (Canada)

Brief History
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Initially, the authors of this book were to make a documentary about the Holy Grail. After much research and many developments, they decided that the documentary just was not enough, and so this book was eventually written. When it was initially published in 1982, there was a fair bit of controversy and many branded the authors heretics. But true to their own beliefs, they stuck by their guns and won the respect of many witin the literary and religious worlds.

The furour eventually died down, until last year when Dan Brown's book The Da Vinci Code was published. A court case ensued where Brown was sued for plagiarism by Baigent, Lincoln and Leigh. Eventually the court found that Brown had not plagiarised this book, but not before a renewed interest in all things to do with the Holy Grail. This led to the book being republished, and all books regarding the legend of the Holy Grail being catapulted to the forefront of literary publicity.

Synopsis
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This book delves into the history of the Freemasons, Knights Templar and, of course, the Holy Grail and its origins. Did Jesus marry and have a family? What is the Holy Grail? Is it the fables cup of Christ or is it Mary Magdalene? This book definitely delves deep into the mysteries and fables surrounding the secret societies of the then and now and the grail and it origins.

The book starts in a small village in france in the 19th century and with the discovery made by a curate of a small church in Rennes Le Chateau. It tells of how a discovery made by this curate led him to amass a monetary fortune (which was certainly not normal for a curate in those times), and how he was virtually untouchable by the Church.

But what was that discovery? How did this enable this lowly curate to amass such a vast fortune and have such power over the Church? This is what the book seeks to discover.

And so begins the voyage of discovery within the pages of this book.

We then go back in time and learn of how the Knights Templar were founded and how their history evolved over the centuries. The reader is also educated into the histories of the Visigoth and Cathar, and of the actions of various popes and of the churches of the time. We are introduced to these "secret societies" and their past members, some of whom will be surprises to many people.

Rosslyn Chapel is one historical building mentioned within the book, as are many other places of historical interest around the world, such as the Tomb of David in Jerusalem and the Tour Magdala in Rennes Le Chateau. The Crusades are looked into in great detail, with information about the causes and actions looked at in depth.

I can't tell you about all of the book here - if I tried this review would take ages for you to read and then all of the interest would be gone and you would not need to read the book to get the information. Needless to say, this is one book you will find hard to put down, regardless of your religious beliefs. I know that wen my father read this book, it certainly raised a lot of questions within his mind, so there is a possiblity that it has raised questions for a lot of other people across the world.

Other Books Available
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Here are some other books that are available on this subject. I will get round to reading and reviewing these in due course!

• The Messianic Legacy by Baigent, Leigh and Lincoln
• The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception by Baigent and Leigh
• The Temple and the Lodge by Baigent and Leigh
• From The Omens of Babylon by Michael Baigent
• The Holy Place by Henry Lincoln
• The Jesus Papers by Michael Baigent

My Opinion
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Oh my, this is heavy reading! I have a bachelors degree in business administration, and at times I had to re-read some parts of the book to make sure that I had read it properly, and understood the implications of the text. I'm not saying that this book is difficult to understand, it just needs 100% concentration.

It certainly is not the kind of book that can be read while 2 young children run riot around the hous - it is more of a book to be read while the kids are in bed and you have peace and quiet. That was my experience. I think I read the first chapter about 3 times before I managed to get into the "meat" of the book itself!

But once I had gotten past my initial brain-freeze and got into the main part of the book, I found it very difficult to put it down. Thankfully hubby was not at work at the time and I was able to sit down at night and get stuck into reading for a good couple of hours and an interesting couple of hours a night that was. I certainly took my time reading the book as I wanted to make sure that I took it all in and for this reason, it took me about 8 days to read. But I did re-read certain parts just to satisfy myself that I had taken in the information properly. Sometimes the usual interruptions occurred and I just made sure that I did not miss any information that may have been a crucial part of the book and of the story.

Well, there you have it, my experience reading about the mystery surrounding the Holy Grail. This book may not be everyone's cup of tea, but if you have an interest in this subject, I would highly recommend that you read this, it may answer some questions, but then again it will definitely raise a few questions!

I for one certainly enjoyed reading this and can highly recommend this book to anyone who has even a passing interest in the Holy Grail and its origins. And the end of the book may just raise more questions than have been answered throughout the main body of the text!

The last thing I will leave you with is a quote on the inside of the front cover of my paperback edition of this book, and it is one quote that certainly sums up the book for me: "One of the most important and thought-provoking works to appear in recent years" (The New Humanity).

Definite 5 stars from me!

Thanks for reading. Di xx 

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