I bought this original 1982 book (in its 1983 edition) without the 2 words – ‘and the’ – in the middle. This initial paperback edition is one of the most startling books that I have ever read. My book now has all sorts of highlighting, margin notes, and dog-eared pages that I made in it for fast referencing and re-reading of important parts.When I saw this later 2005 edition in hard-cover and with dust jacket, with new material, I had to buy and read it, too!This 2005 edition of Holy Blood and the Holy Grail (HBHG) is a 511-page tome with glossy pages containing: color and black and white maps, color paintings, color and black and white photos – all to enhance and clarify the content of the book.Because of the size of this 2005 book, there are now adequate margin areas for easy marking, jotting, highlighting, and even adding sticky notes to mark very important information. This book in many ways resembles a textbook.For readers who aren’t European and haven’t studied some of the earlier cultures of people who had lived there, this book is a great introduction to present and explain some of these communities of people, who have ties into the topic of this book.HBHG starts out with deliberate, and slowly-accelerating information for a reason: to build up a well-researched case for the main topic. This, then, raises questions and then answers them systemically. What this does is to have the reader go through a sort of ‘tempering’ process much like that of making a very sharp sword. This sharp, tempered sword then becomes the reader, who has learned to cut away the dross and only keep that which is pure and un-touched.When the Da Vinci Code book came out in 2003, I thought of this 1983 book. I thought of it again, when I read this 2005 book, with the addition of so many fine graphics, especially the ‘Apprentice Pillar’ in Rosslyn Chapel (page 211) near Edinburgh, Scotland. And specifically for people all around the world involved in Masonry. And more specifically for those ‘raised’ in Scotland. Or with Scottish ancestry.Like the Da Vinci Code, I could not put HBHG down!The stage is set in the 1st chapter for the rest of the book: 1. A public library; 2. A book (and who checked it out); 3. A poor ‘man of the cloth’; 4. A Chapel; and a 5. A vast fortune.How could these disparate entities lead to the topic of this book? Read the book to find out!There are 3 pre-Chapter sections in this book: 1. ‘Acknowledgements’, 2. ‘Introduction’, and ‘Introduction, 1996’.Next are 14 main Chapters divided into 3 Main Parts.PART I: The Mystery:Chapter 1. ‘Village of Mystery’; Chapter 2. ‘The Cathars and the Great Heresy’; Chapter 3. ‘The Warrior Monks‘; and Chapter 4. and ‘Secret Documents’.PART TWO: The Secret Society:Chapter 5. ‘The Order Behind the Scenes‘; Chapter 6. ‘The Grand Masters and the Underground Stream‘; Chapter 7. ‘Conspiracy through the Centuries‘; Chapter 8. ‘The Secret Society of Today‘; Chapter 9. ‘The Long-haired Monarchs‘; Chapter 10. and ‘The Exiled Tribe‘.PART III: The Bloodline:Chapter 11. ‘The Holy Grail‘; Chapter 12. ‘The Priest-King Who never Ruled‘; Chapter 13. ‘The Secret the Church Forbade‘ ; and Chapter 14. ‘The Grail Dynasty‘.Buy the book to find out the subheads of all 14 main Chapters.Finally, there is Chapter 15: ‘Conclusion and Portents for the Future’. Here are the following 8 subheads:A. PostscriptB. Appendix 1: The Alleged Grand Masters of the Prieure de SionC. Appendix 2: The Compte de Chambord and the French ThroneD. Appendix 3: Eastern European Literary FiguresE. Appendix 4: The Order or the Fleur de LysF. BibliographyG. Notes and ReferencesH. IndexAnyone interested in history, genealogy, Europe, the Middle East, secret societies, Masonry, ‘enlightened knowledge’, religion, current affairs (with a hidden hand reaching back into the past), etc. will devour this book.HBHG is a book of which I have bought multiple copies and given them out to friends to: read, discuss, and then get online to: read relevant articles on the same topic and watch documentaries, Round Tables, etc. By doing this, we can all share and discuss main ideas and discuss areas in which there may be multiple opinions. Many of us are avid readers and have travelled and lived abroad, so all of us have an interest in this topic.