The Templar Pirates: The Secret Alliance to Build the New Jerusalem

On it's face this book would seem to be a slam dunk for me: I love the history of pirates, I love the history of the Knights Templar, and I love the alternative views of history that linkt he two together. Needless to say I was excited to read this book.When I got it I tore into it, and was…disappointed.The text of this book has the ring of third hand information being regurgitated without contextual understanding. The information varies from the elementary and common, to the wildest speculations, and neither is grounded in cited sources or historical position.Compounding the issue of sourceless and uncited research, is the author's lack of skill in writing. The prose fails to grab the reader, fails to establish a sense of history or adventure, and most unfortunately fails to imbue the recitation of ideas with any excitement. This is a fatal flaw for a book of any kind, but an especially troublesome problem for a book on alternative history.This leaves the book reading like a children's history book with the random bit of wild speculation thrown in.Finally, too much of this book is spent reciting facts and information that is previously well covered in other, more expertly written, works. 'Under The Black Flag' is an excellent example of a book from which you can learn everything you need to know about the golden age of piracy without the sophomoric writing that plagues this work.There is some good here, though. When the book does eventually expound on the possible Templar history of piracy, and the people and situations behind it, the book rises above it's own mediocrity and for a few pages at a time is what I was hoping for when I purchased the book. Unscientifically, 75% of the book is information that is available elsewhere in better form, and the remaining 25% is exactly what you're looking for when you buy a book titled 'The Templar Pirates: The Secret Alliance to Build the New Jerusalem'.

This is a good little book. As mentioned by another reviewer, it lacks adequate notation, but despite that the author has laid out a plausible enough scenario. His central premise is that the original pirates were outcast Knights Templar who took to the seas to take their revenge upon Catholic shipping. Over time, they evolved but maintained much of their original philosophy and traditions. Most importantly, they knew of America long before 1492 and later planned its colonization as a Templar homeland. Unfortunately, a great deal of the book only scatches the surface of its subject matter, so the interested reader must search elsewhere for a more in-depth analysis. Nevertheless it is a perfect start for anyone with doubts about the conventional Columbus mythology.

Managed to keep my attention on a interesting theory..

The author makes some historical connections that add to the interest of his presentation. I was especially interested in his connection of Christopher Columbus to the Templars which has me revisiting my own family history. Interesting reading.

Very interesting and good read.

This book could be an absolute knockout, but the author fails in one key area... absolutely no citations. The author advances a few key ideas in the book but fails to validate them by citing any peer reviewed or published works (not even in the back). He also devotes a single paragraph to Captain Kidd in which he writes him off as simply a pirate, when in fact, Kidd's story is vastly more complex. With citations and a proper bibliography this book would be a winner, without it, its hard to take anything too seriously.