The Templars: The Secret History Revealed

The enjoyed the author's writing style. It was easy to read and didn't bog down the way history books sometimes do, except for the chapter on "The Templar Code of Honor". The author quickly covered the history of the Order of the Templars from its beginning to the Order's dissolution. The reason I gave it only three out of five stars is because the writer's viewpoint comes across as apologist and contrived in the Vatican's favor. This isn't unexpected from the "Vatican Secret Archive Historian" who the author claims to be. However, I find her explanation of why Pope Clement V abandoned the Order and its Grand Master to King Philip's political maneuvering a weak argument that smacks of Jesuitical machinations. She also faults the Templars for failing to eradicate a "shameful ritual" and other minor offenses that she believes were an indication of the loss of honor the Order experienced after the fall of Acre. Finally, the list of references and notes is extensive, but due to the fact that most of them are in Latin, French or German, they are not very helpful to the English reader.

"The Templars: The Secret History Revealed" is a well researched, academic, yet highly readable history of this secret order. The author is a paleographer at the Vatican. As another reviewer stated, this work is a detailed description of the political history of the Templars and does not go into a lot of detail about actual battles. I found the work very illuminating and enjoyable. I read the book on Kindle while listening simultaneously to it on audiobook. The audiobook was accurate and well narrated.No matter how one feels about the Templars, they were unquestionably at the crossroads of history in the Middle Ages in Europe and The Middle East. They were a secret order with secret rites. As such there is wide debate about their merits and possible scandals. This book delves into various aspects of these issues.This particular work really fit into two of my current studies. I happen to be studying the history of France, while by coincidence am reading Dan Brown Novels. I would not hesitate to recommend this fine work to anybody who is studying The Middle East. The history of France, Italy, The Crusades, European Religious History, etc...In summary, I completely enjoyed this work and found it very educational. It is NOT a detailed study of battlefield tactics. It fit well into my studies of European History. Thank You...

This is not an exciting book weaving together history, mystery and conspiracy. There is no conspiracy at all, and the only mystery here stems from the same sources as all other things that remain mysterious to us concerning the period from the fall of Rome to the Renaissance; the lack of adequate historical documentation from the period. As it turns out the Order Templars existed for 190 years from 1120 until 1310. They had a beginning, a rise to zenith which ran on for about 100 years, and then a slow decline the result (as often happens) of their own success along with the changing political landscape around them, followed by their complete dismantling (mostly by the evil machinations of the French King coupled with the weakness of the Pope) in the first decade of the 14th Century.This is not a gripping book, but it comes across as an accurate book and tells the story in enough detail to fill in many unknowns without becoming bogged down in scholarly reference. A good and easy read, the straight down the middle story of the order and any further writing whether of the historical or fictional sort should at least take this excellent historical investigation into account.

This is a very easy read especially if you are well familiar with the subject. I am very impressed in the editorial and translational prowess of the product! This book was translated to English from Italian and is a concise historical account of the Knights Templar (KT). The work has no photographs, maps or figures.The author is very effective in routing out unavailable, up to this time, information regarding the almost 200 year history of this military monastic order. In depth detailed materials are available in this work which provides insight to all parties that add clarity to the demise of the KT.The last few chapters are very illuminating regarding the secular vs. religious interactions of the KT disbandment. The dance between Philip IV of France and the papal authorities is revealing and explains some of the history handed down through the ages.

This book was disappointing. It wasn't bad, but it wasn't good either. With this subtitle: "The Secret History Revealed," you thought it was going to more squarely address the whole spate of Templar myths that have cropped up in the wake of "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" and the literary abortions of Dan Brown and his ilk. Thing is, aside from some oblique references by Eco in the forward (another reason I bought it), and parts of the last chapter, it was just a beefed-up Wikipediaesque recap of Templar history. Again, not bad, but not what I was expecting. Also, for the woman who discovered the Chinon parchment, you'd expect her to mention it more than just the few references in the last chapter. Eh. Enlightening, however, was her analysis of the controversial initiation ceremonies, which was actually quite sparkling. Also, it'd be nice to have a chronology, or a list of Grand Masters, or the like. One bright spot was the extensive bibliography that was almost a bibliographic essay, though it was lean on English-language works. Could of been brilliant, instead it serves an accessible primer, good, but not great.

Based on true historical sources. A detailed review of the facts in Templar history. A faithful testimony to this outstanding order.

GREAT SELLER+BOOK+VALUE

Great history book, very interesting!

bought for my dad.....he loved it,very informative

Other than the fact that the spine of the book was broken, I was very pleased with the book. Having read Dr. Frale's papers, in the past I was pleased to have her book in my library and found it a simple read for the laymen.