The Real History Behind the Templars

These days, it seems like all that's available about the history of the Order of the Temple is the fantastical pseudo-histories of this group of poor knights.Sharan Newman has really dug into every aspect of the myths, legends, and the facts of the Templars. From her first sentence "How does a legend begin?" she dissects all the overblown stories of this much-maligned group.Her last chapter points our her heroism in wading into this minefield of revisionist history. The title - "How to tell if you're reading pseudohistory" really explains what a mess this area of history has become. The Templars existed; there is no doubt about that. But they've been totally hijacked by those who want to claim that they are around to this day, even on the U.S. One Dollar Bill.The most remarkable part of her book is something that 99% of Templar "history" books leave out - FOOTNOTES !! It's simply amazing how many books get sold these days without footnotes. (I think we need a footnote rating on Amazon - The Footnote Police ;)I've owned Newman's book for about 6 months and its pages are more worn than many books I've owned for 10 years.I highly recommend this terrific book. You'll treat it more like a reference.

I read several reviews on several books regarding the Templars and this one came within the top three. However, I was disappointed to learn from it that the Templars were not the ultimate fighting machine of the Crusades. In fact, they were big-time losers as presented in this book. A real wakeup call contained herein.

Well researched and detailed account on now the Templars came about in the early 12th century and their history that was very closely tied to the 200 year period of the Crusades to Holy Land. This is a very good narrative the avoids the overly ponderous prose that characterize some of the other studies on the Templars. The research is well documented with footnotes that reference original contemporaneous writings and documents. An important and critical aspect of the book is the author's objective to systematically and thoroughly debunk myths and misconceptions about the Templars that have arisen in the past several hundred years and which have been further promoted by the da Vince Code book and movie.

Difficult following timeline as provided for in the end of the text. For example, the timeline illustrates key events within the context of Templar History...yet a number of significant events are not captured such as: 1187 the fall of Jerusalem to Saladin, and Friday, 13 Oct 1307 when the roundup of Templars began. Further use of descriptive names or ceremonial or monarchy associated titles and/or persons titles are not clear, and contradict many other reputable written resources. Example, In one Chapter Hugh de Payns and Hugh, Count of Champagne is referenced. Yet the name Hugh is written without reference to which Hugh was being defined. It’s awkward when a reader has to create a legend and timeline to understand what is being read. Also, I am not sure, but it is curious as there is a sort of Bibliography provided that shares research related resources. Yet during effort to cross reference, it seems that this book, despite the clear hard work in its writing, is a compilation of other works that are consolidated or rearranged.

I have now read at least 20 histories of the Knights Templar, and THIS is by far the best presentation of the facts for the non-academic reader. There are more detailed and thorough accounts of the Templars available. There are accounts that are more thoroughly documented with academic-style source citations. But there are none I've found to date that present the Templar facts, and the facts that debunk the popular myths, more clearly, succinctly, or in a more easy-to-read fashion than Newman's The Real History Behind the Templars. If you are writing a thesis or dissertation on the Templars, this is probably not your best source. But if you are looking for an enjoyable, well-written, and well-organized history of the Templars just to satisfy your personal curiosity I highly recommend this one.

If this topic is of interest to you, It is well worth the read!

I purchased this for my husband as he has a deep interest in the Templars. Very informative and well written. Included some information he had not previously seen.

... a bit slow but thorough ...

very informative book, well researched!

A tip top exposition of the best bits in the story - presented in a more modern idiomatic way. I am old school and love it all - but Edith Simon is still "The Daddy" - if you know what I mean!!!