Product Description

A nineteenth century French priest discovers something in his mountain village at the foot of the Pyrenees, which enabled him to amass and spend a fortune of millions of pounds. The tale seems to begin with buried treasure and then turn into an unprecedented historical detective story - a modern Grail ques leading back through cryptically coded parchments, secret societies, the Knights Templar, the Cathar heretics of the twelfth and thirteenth centuries and a dynasty of obscure French kings deposed more than 1,300 years ago. The author's conclusions are persuasive at the core is not material riches but a secret - a secret of explosive and controversial proportions, which radiates out from the little Pyrenees village to encompass the whole of Western civilization. Its repercussions stretch all the way to contemporary politics and the entire edifice of the Christian faith. It involves nothing less than the Holy Grail.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #215750 in Books
• Published on: 2005-09-01
• Format: Illustrated
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

Review
"Their quest for knowledge possesses all the ingredients of a classic 19th Century mystery novel."
--"Financial Times"
"A book that cannot easily be dismissed."
--"The Bible Society"
"Probably one of the most controversial books of the 20th Century."
--"U.P.I."

From the Publisher
Newly revised illustrated edition of the international bestseller

About the Author
Michael Baigent was born in New Zealand in 1948, and obtained a degree in psychology from Canterbury University, Christchurch. Since 1976 he has lived in England. Richard Leigh studied at Tufts University, Boston, the University of Chicago and the State University of New York at Stony Brook. Together they have co-authored a number of books including the international bestsellers The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception and Secret Germany.

Customer Reviews

The definitive speculation of the theories of a bloodline
This is nothing other than a massive tour de force of a foray into history. Wow.

Rennes-le-Chateau is a tiny village with a big past. This book traces the journey of discovery made by three writers starting from a coded message to a world-shaking discovery.

In fact the discoveries had already been hypothesised, but the discovery of these possibilities were enormous. The writers delved into history, re-analysed the Bible, tried to interpret motivations and studied the history of the area.

In doing so they discovered a priest who became both enormously wealthy in an unexplained way, and obsessed with alchemy and other heretical arts. They considered the Templars and the crusades, the possibility of the concealment of the treasure of the Temple of Jerusalem being hidden in the area.

They found the real possibility of Jesus living beyond the crucifixion and his line surviving, and a secret society linked ot it all.

It had all the hallmarks of a blockbuster thriller, and is an utterly engrossing pageturner. It is written interestingly and brings events to life. Without lingering pointlessly, it makes its point about why they've examined or accepted something.

Liberties and interpretations have been taken, but they needed to be for progress to be made. This was a platform for further speculation and research. You may not accept all of it, but it makes you reconsider what was accepted and consider the possibilities. I returned to re-read it and often recall its subject. It lead to me reading further books on the subject and visiting the area. An awe-inspiring subject.

RLC is a wonderful place, this book is the definitive story of it's probable history. Read, enjoy, and decide how much you're prepared to accept.

A gripping read
Anybody who does not believe everything written in the bible will find this book interesting., and even those who believe in the gospel truth of the bible and have an open mind about it will still enjoy the probing nature of the book. The author said it himself that he does not believe or disbelieve what he wrote because they are more of the opinions of others. He used the particular phrase of "it is said that " in presenting his case.

It should be noted that the book is written to present the cases of those who held the belief that Jesus didn't die in the cross and began a bloodline hat survived him and still survives until today, and those who do not hold that belief. And since the Christian world does not hold that belief, the book had to focus on presenting the case of those who support that belief even if it is far-fetched. I am a Christian and I do not believe the skeptics, still I find this book interesting. It lets one get an idea of how things were during the early days of the church, an unsettling situation which could not be devoid of the emergence of myths. What is myth or reality about the life of Jesus is a question of faith. Still this book is a recommended read. UNION MOUJIK , THE DA VINCI CODE, THE MESSAINIC LEGACY ,DISCIPLES OF FORTUNE,are very easy bookS to read with very captivating stories.

Brilliant piece of historical detective work
This is a brilliant detective story with many fascinating strands. I first read it 20 years ago, and I'm still dipping into it. I'm a Christian, and I believe that Jesus died on the cross, but I also think the conclusions of this book are valid. Read this and you'll understand why Dan Brown was sued -this is the history and painstaking detective work behind the story in the novel...