The Medieval Machine, by Jean Gimpel
World History Editor's Recommended Book
The Middle Ages, writes French scholar Jean Gimpel, saw an extraordinary flourishing of technological development throughout Europe. With the era came waterwheels and clock towers, nearly uniform machine parts and improvements in public hygiene, vaulting cathedrals and towering city walls, and a notion of spiritual and earthly progress that promised better things to come. In analyzing the growth of precision in measurement and of the experimental sciences, and in considering the careers of medieval geniuses such as the architect-inventor Villard de Honnecourt, Gimpel clearly conveys the intellectual excitement of the time. Sadly, it was undone by religious intolerance, brutal warfare, and the arrival of the plague as quickly as it rose.

The Knights Templar and Their Myth, by Peter Partner

The Templars: Knights of God, by Edward Burman

Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry, by John J. Robinson

Synopsis

Dungeon, Fire, and Sword, by John J. Robinson
From Kirkus Reviews, 11/15/91
The author of Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry (1989)--which provocatively argued that the Freemasons are a descendant order of the medieval Knights Templar--now concentrates, in a highly detailed but far less captivating addendum, on the Knights' role in the Crusades. Robinson's fascination with the military monastic order organized by a band of knights in the aftermath of the First Crusade and originally dedicated to the protection of pilgrims in the Holy Land continues. Here, he sets out to recount the Knights' role as trained warriors and, eventually, as international bankers during the nearly 200 years from Pope Urban II's call for the First Crusade in 1095 through the last Crusaders' abandonment of the Holy Land in 1291. Unfortunately, in this version the fascination of the Templar tradition (including the order's secret initiation rites, its rules of chastity and individual poverty, its provision against bathing, and its recruitment from the ranks of murderers, exiles, and excommunicated Catholics) is submerged beneath deadly masses of historic detail concerning the ever-changing political alliances, royal successions, and battle plans that comprised the Christian invasions of the Holy Land. Isolated incidents featuring such swashbucklers as Richard the Lion-Hearted, Frederick Barbarossa, and the Syrian Assassins sparkle occasionally against the otherwise monotonous accounts of skirmishes against the Muslims, disputes among Christian noblemen, and struggles for the crown of Jerusalem- -but the Knights themselves are often lost in the background of these events, and only regain their undeniable mystique when Pope Clement V disbands the order at the behest of France's avaricious King Philip IV, and the Knights are reduced to a fugitive, underground existence whose traditions may continue in some form to this day. Lacking the power and focus of Robinson's earlier work, this serves as little more than reference material for die-hard Crusade fans. (Maps.) -- Copyright ©1991, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

A Pilgrim's Path: Freemasonry and the Religious Right, by John J. Robinson
Synopsis
The author of Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry describes the history and principles of the world's largest secret society, and then takes on those who have condemned it, refuting their fabrications and misstatements. An eye-opening book for those interested in the mysteries of Freemasonry--and disturbed by the rise of the Fundamentalist Right.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail, by Michael Baigent, et. al.
hartje@fullnet.com from Indiana, USA, 07/05/98 A huge leap from a stable cliff I was drawn into this book almost immediately and could not put it down. I try to be open-minded and tried to accept what was given me at its merits. The story is incredible and I highly recommend it as a great read. I do have a problem with the fact/conclusion thing, though. Many facts and probabilities were put forth. Some that seemed a little 'out there' were contextualized by the culture of the times they took place in, so I was willing to cut the authors some slack on their suppositions. HOWEVER, it seemed like they would amass facts/probabilities, then take quite large leaps toward conclusions. More than once I found myself asking, "Wait a minute, where did THAT come from?" I would compare it to exhaustively explaining how the Mayans had knowledge of astronomy and then concluding that they MUST have had their own spacecraft. Factual? Well, possibly. There are many interesting points brought up and it does make one wonder. I wouldn't recommend bringing some of them up in casual office discussion or you'll have a blown-first-date/foot-in-mouth flashback. Still, although it's easy to trash the points brought up as being far-fetched and on shaky ground, they really aren't much more implausible than some of the Bible stories many take literally. At least not on a factual basis.

The Messianic Legacy, by Michael Baigent, et. al.
Synopsis
The authors of the bestselling Holy Blood, Holy Grail continue their controversial exploration of the Messiah in this fascinating and enlightening book for anyone interested in religion, history, and the complex problems of today's world. HC: Henry Holt.

The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception, by Michael Baigent, et. al.
Synopsis
Investigates why the contents of the earliest biblical manuscripts, found forty years ago, are still being withheld from the general public and studies unpublished materials that provide some startling new views about the early Christians. 40,000 first printing. --This text refers to the paperback edition of this title

The Temple and the Lodge, by Michael Baigent, et. al.
Synopsis
From the authors of the bestseller, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, comes a new book on the origins of Freemasonry. Its mysterious beginnings in the fourteenth century through currents of thought and political upheavals surrounding it in seventeenth-and eighteenth-century Europe are charted. "Compelling...sane and informed...Written with gripping academic-detective style."--TorontoStar. 36 black-and-white photographs.

Before France and Germany: The Creation and Transformation of the Merovingian World

Medieval Germany, 500-1300 is a new interpretation of the emergence of Germany in the crucial centuries when a European civilisation was being forged for the first time. Germany was different: there never was a 'German people' until right at the end of the Middle Ages. Instead, we have to study distinct tribal groups such as the Bavarians and the Saxons, the Franks and the Swabians, each with their own dialects, customs and laws. Medieval Germany, while highly diverse, was at the same time the basis of a supra-national Western Roman Empire founded by Charlemagne and continued by Otto the Great and his successors. So Germany was at once provincial and universal. The institutional reality which bound together these paradoxes was the kingdom. Like other European communities at the time, the diverse regions and peoples owed allegiance to a king. And in Germany regal office produced an extraordinary variety of military, juridical, religious, economic, dynastic and ideological methods of rule.

The Autumn of the Middle Ages, by Jan Huizinga
In 1919, Johan Huizinga revealed in the original version of this book that the ideals, aspirations, and behaviors of humanity in history were dramatically different from those in present day. In Herfsttjj der Middeleeuwen, he recalled the waning years of the Middle Ages--the low countries in northern Europe in the 14th and 15th centuries--and argued against those who claimed that human belief systems remain the same even if contexts change. His account rested not on historical fact, but on the emotions and ambitions of the people as expressed through the art and literature of their culture. Many people treated the book as groundbreaking work, and it was translated into English in 1924. This new translation is a complete, more direct version of the original and allows modern readers a full appreciation of life in an era rarely revisited.

The Civilization of the Middle Ages, by Norman F. Cantor
Now completely revised and expanded, this comprehensive general history of the Middle Ages centers on medieval culture and religion rather than on political history, and retains the powerful narrative flow that made the earlier edition so accessible and exciting.

Life in a Medieval City, by Joseph & Frances Gies
For students, researchers, and history lovers, a look at day-to-day life in a rarely explored era. "About life and death, midwives and funerals, business, books and authors, and town government."--Choice

Cathedral, Forge, and Waterwheel: Technology and Invention in the Middle Ages, by Joseph and Frances Gies
From Booklist, 02/01/94 The flame of human ingenuity burned with surprising intensity during the medieval centuries. Already well known for their extensive research into medieval history and social life, the Gieses here explode the myth of the Dark Ages, showing that the Fall of Rome did not plunge Europe into stagnation and lethargy. Rather, the archaeological and historical record reveals that medieval Europeans borrowed discoveries from other lands (such as the compass, Hindu-Arabic numbers, gunpowder, and paper) and developed their own indigenous technologies (such as those in wind and water mills), so making continual progress in the use of natural resources. In the fields, peasants used a new harness (from China) to put the horse to work in place of the ox; in the forge, the blacksmith developed case-hardened tools for the carpenter; on the open seas, the sailor manipulated the new lanteen sail to guide ships constructed with radical new hull designs. While most of the technological development was anonymous and practical, medieval advances in fields such as astronomy and navigation led directly toward the feats of Copernicus and Columbus. Contemporary readers--prone to take computers and smart bombs for granted--will learn much from this chronicle of monks writing on lime-treated parchments and of knights fighting with newly devised stirrups. Bryce Christensen Copyright© 1994, American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Teutonic Knights, by Henryk K. Sienkiewicz