Product Description

If you liked The Da Vinci Code or Holy Blood, Holy Grail, you'll love digging deeper with The Knights Templar Chronology, a fascinating timeline telling the year by year story of one of history’s most secret and mysterious brotherhoods -- in detail unmatched by any other reference volume. The unique bibliography tracks modern-day researchers as well as the book's sources.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #198919 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-10
• Released on: 2005-01-10
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 132 pages

From the Publisher
This remarkable book maps out at a glance the Templars' rise and fall from which so many modern-day groups draw inspiration. Never before have the world’s most intriguing Knights had their incredible adventures and history so fully captured.

From the Author
As few things captivate the human mind and imagination as a story unfinished, the Knights Templars’ purpose, organization, secret rituals, achievements, influence, and disappearance have become one of the most persistent and enduring mysteries in history. The Knights Templar Chronology is dedicated to expanding knowledge on history’s most intriguing monks and creating opportunities and funding for more direct, archeological research to discover their legacy. -- George Smart

From the Inside Flap
"George's book draws our attention to an Order which found the need to build bridges of trust and faith rather than walls of suspicion and fear. Let us hope it finds its way into the White House library and into every other library in the land. We would do well to look for the path of peace before Armageddon becomes the inevitable consequence of Man's insanity." -- from the Foreword by Niven Sinclair, legendary Knights Templar researcher and author of Beyond the Shadow of a Doubt

"I wish I had had this sort of reference work when I was writing The Age of Heretics. The Knights Templar Chronology profiles an influential and significant core group, a group whose impact spanned centuries. It is also an impassioned manifesto, which lets people struggling against the subtle status quo know: You are not alone." -- Art Kleiner, author of The Age of Heretics and The Fifth Discipline Fieldbook

"Eight years of dedication...a labour of love...it has been an honour to be at the side of George Smart as he painstakingly researched, traveled and thought this project through to fruition." -- Brother R.T. (Dick) James, Army & Navy Lodge No. 306, Hampton, Virginia; Cass Lodge No. 243, Coon Rapids, Minnesota

"The Knights Templar Chronology, along with its maps, is the most complete Chronology that I have seen. It should be a must for any reference Librarian or any student of the Middle Ages." -- Harry B. Lyon, PM, MPS, Asst. Librarian, The George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Washington, DC

Customer Reviews

Some myths are more real than others
Amid the hype and mythology resulting from the DaVinci Code, George Smart provides a factual foundation for the quest to answer critical questions about the historical Jesus, his relationships, and the evolution of the Christian Church. Smart is too wise to purport to answer these questions, but he does provide a strong historical basis to justify them as legitimate queries. One pass through this chronology will convince you that not only are the questions real, but it will leave you wondering who does not want them answered.

Good history, good starting point for research
I have spent years studying the Knights Templar and have read countless books, both fact and fiction, about the group. This book is a good primer for anyone that is looking for a timeline of the Templars.
If you are a beginner looking for information on the Templars, this book will serve as a starting point which leads you to more in depth works depending on what sparks your interest, piques your curiosity.
Mr. Smart has produced a concise timeline of the years leading up to the creation of the Templars, the years of the Templars existence, and their ultimate fall at the hands of the French monarchy and the catholic church.

A good starting point for anyone interested in learning more about the mysterious order of warrior monks.

***One caveat, this timeline does make reference to information from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail" which, at the time of publication of this book was considered researched truth. The requisite release of "The Da Vinci Code" by Dan Brown and the movie brought about a new study which proved a hoax involving the "Priory of Sion". The Priory of Sion did not exist as stated in "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". It was a well planned, well laid out hoax. All of this information came out after the publishing of "The Knights Templar Chronology" by George Smart. Although Mr. Smart cannot be blamed for sighting what was, at the time of publication, assumed to be fact, the fact that this is no longer valid information should be noted now.***

(+++ On a side note: I have recently had the pleasure of corresponding with Mr. Smart and have found that he is sincere in his studies and his dedication to the work he produced. He is a very gracious, kind gentleman. +++)

A poor excuse of a book
You read the reviews and you think you are getting a scholarly study of the history of the Templars ... boy are you going to be surprised!! What you get is a slim book with one or two sentences concisely summing up the history of a given year and then it starts to confuse fact and fiction by discussing Holy Blood, Holy Grail, the DaVinci Code and conspiracy theories.

This book is not worth a single penny ... it is the worst purchase I have ever made and thank heavens the author has a real job because it is obvious he is neither a writer nor a historian!!!