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.didn't like the idea of 'Barbaras' being Jesus son. Don't think the 'Merovingian blood line' is important.Europe and the rest of the world is 'over' any royal blood line, and would not welcome a 'king/priest' in today's society. The 'Templars' and their 'mission' is still a mystery.This book has bee famous since its release in the 80s, and I read it immediately after reading a wonderful book called the Inquisition by Messrs Baigent and Leigh. A splendid history which I highly recommend.I was trained in history and law during the 60s and 70s so have no prejudice against books written in the pre- technology explosion of the last 15 years, but I found the "The Holy Blood" a hard book to continue reading for very odd reasons. Its expose of the history of the middle ages is valid, but some pivotal elements of the reasoning from a set of facts to a conclusion, are spurious and involve either religious belief as a support or that there be not too much attention to the threads of an argument. Some aspects of the book only make sense in a religious setting, and for an aggressive atheist the book simply was irritating claiming on one hand secular inspiration for the authors, while carrying necessary religious belief on the other hand for fundamental validity of the book's conclusions.The book shows signs of a beat up for controversy, "explosive" information is used half a dozen times to describe information which now is a ho-hum.I put the book down and abandoned it 3 times only to pick it up again a week and another book later. Finally I reached the end with a shrug. Generally a waste of time compensated by some great passages with sound research for some of history's amazing events, such as the Albigensian Crusade and the Cathars.What monsters peopled the Medieval Church! It would take another book to track the flaws in this volume, which are no longer likely of even academic interest.Great books goes back into the history books and give a good recollection of the thing made a great impact to modern religion as we see them todayI say that this book is a difficult one to read. Well, I should know, I've read it three times, cover-to-cover, and am halfway through the fourth reading. Every time I read it I learn a little more, and make a few more connections I had overlooked before.I must say that I've given away dozens of copies of this in paperback and hardcover editions. So far, everyone who I've had read it has thanked me for giving them an excellent realistic detective story to ponder.I've purchased the "Illustrated" hardcover edition recently as the earlier tome is getting quite "dog-eared" by now, and I simply LOVE that edition!I would recommend this book to anyone with an inquiring mind.Bought this book to replace a loaned copy. Story of our lives, right? I only saw that this was hardback, and was surprised to see that this is annotated and illustrated in the margins! Super choice for fans of the book needing a good shelf copy, or would just like to read the "pop-up video" version.Get THIS copy if you want to read for the first time, too, why not!(VH1: You should feel proud that one of your titles has become slang.)The authors have done exhaustive research in writing this book. I have been reading it for several days & have done some of my own research on my PC RE: some of the names & places they mentioned. It is, without a doubt, very thought-provoking. It does not, up to the point where I am in the book, change or create any questions or doubt about my own religious beliefs (Lutheran). I will, if asked, recommend it to some of the members of my church.I enjoyed this book. I don’t wish to give the story away by pointing to some of the claims made by these authors, but the book has a huge reputation. I remember it coming out in the early days and the controversy that surrounded it at the time. The authors refer to this in their introduction to the book.I found all this intriguing, along with Henry Lincoln’s investigation into the mystery that kick starts the book and sets the authors off on their quest for The Holy Blood and The Holy Grail, which all seemed like a cryptic crossword waiting to be solved. And the authors come up with a theory that sounds, on the face of it, very plausible indeed. However, whether the authors’ hypotheses are correct or not, I don’t know; it will be of course up the the readers themselves to judge. But the whole thing does make some fascinating, some would say fanciful, reading.I would add that the book is not always an easy read; in parts it is quite difficult and I had problems trying to follow all the names that I kept encountering; and I did find some sections more interesting than others. However, I would recommend this book to anyone interested in conspiracy theories that has an open mind to consider alternative interpretations and explanations of events.I hope you find my review helpful.What an amazing read! My partner had learned about the Knights Templer years ago and after badgering him (probs a bit too often) to retell the tale he advised me to start by reading The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail. So . . . I did.First off for anyone that likes picking up a book, reading it for half an hour or so, putting it down then coming back to it a week later I would stongly advise against this tact. For anyone with a bad memory (me) this is a great training aid. It is akin to walking down a direct path, seeing all the side roads and deciding to take them . . . you may get lost unless you are paying attention. It is superb fun!I feel like I have mentally walked all over europe with a bag marked "intrigue", opened lots of hidden doors and peeped in, found a part of a jigsaw popped them in my intrigue bag, then opened another and found another piece of a jigsaw but for a completely different puzzle.As you may have garnered I love this book. Still to finish as I need to recap myself on what I have learned A LOT!I highly recommend this book it is so good!I read this back in....I think the 70s....and fell for it hook line and sinker, I'm older and wiser now, with a bit more knowledge of the period and the professed religion.Bought it for nostalgia purposes and I read it now as a thriller "based on a true story".....kinda like the Da Vinci Code of which I have a hardback edition with pics of all the historic symbols and clues they find, This to me is similar.Cathars did exist, it appears to be a mash up of certain eastern religions, probably brought back by soldiers and knights from the crusades....the belief in the rest....?I enjoyed it for what it is.This book purports to tell the story of the Knights Templar and several other groups but as always, when writing about secret societies, there is no way of checking the facts. This author bases his thesis on very few substantial events but nevertheless creates an apparently coherent dialogue. Caution is advised whilst reading.I haven't yet read the book, so I'll edit my review at a later point about the content of it, but what disappointed me is that I got mine with the back cover almost completely torn.Altho it's not something I cannot fix myself with a little bit of tape, I don't feel any good about it, as now I must be extremely careful holding it.This is my first ever problem with any order, so I put 3/5 stars, as I'm not sure who's fault is that, the carrier or those responsible for the book. Ordered the book with 2 other and they are in excellent condition.Other than that, the book itself seems to be really interesting as seen by the reviews of other people, and I look forward to start reading it.