The authors of this book never claim that everything they write is incontrovertible truth. They freely admit that a lot of what they wrote is theory and supposition. That said they base these theories and supposition on fact. Some of what they theorized has since been proven wrong but it was always theory to begin with. Its an interesting read but if your not well versed in European history it can be slow going. I'm sure others were like me and got a one day lesson on the Dark Ages that amounted to something like "a lot of people died." If so do yourself a favor and bone up a little on the time period. Also a lot of people get hung up on the Jesus and Mary Magdalen portion of this book. It's (despite the title) not even the largest portion of the book. Its not really even mentioned until about three quarters of the way through the book. Its about so much more than that. The authors didn't write the book with the express idea that this is what they were trying to prove. On the contrary they came to that theory while researching a quaint little French mystery. It gets a 4 out 5.

P.S. This book was written twenty years before The DaVinci Code. In fact DaVinci isn't even a major player in this book. He's given about four paragraphs. The artist featured in this book is Nicolas Poussin and they focus mainly on his painting The Shepards of Arcadia. If you want the information from Holy Blood Holy Grail you're gonna have to read Holy Blood Holy Grail.

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Holy Blood, Holy Grail by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln is a fascinating read. The book examines such things as the Merovingians, the church at Rennes-le-Chateau and the connection between the Priory of Sion and the Knights Templar. The book has been well researched and the arguments are quite convincing, particularly concerning the compilation of the Bible as we know it today. While there is no definitive evidence that the events portrayed in the Bible are anything but fact, the authors present a compelling argument for how the crucifixion could have been faked and by what methods it could have been done. There are also a number of details that support the argument for a faked crucifixion, such as Joseph using soma, Greek for “living body,” when requesting the body from Pilate. There are also striking contradictions among the Gospels. In Luke, Jesus was visited by sheperds at his birth and the family lived in Nazareth. In Matthew, Jesus was visited by kings and the family lived in Bethlehem. The authors also spend a fair amount of time examining just how the Bible was assembled into its current form and point out that in order to spread its version of the truth, the Church very likely had strong political reasons for editing, changing and culling many books that might have otherwise been included in the Bible. This was an excellent read if you enjoy the DaVinci Code and want to know more about the research behind the book.

This book is fascinating. As a descendant of the Merovingian bloodline via Charlemagne who was shocked to discover that there was a theory that the Merovingians were descended from Christ and the Magdalen, and also a Christian, not to mention as a descendant of King Philip IV of France who persecuted the Knights Templar, I was compelled to read this book and give it a chance.

I am not convinced either way of whether this could be true or not true, but none the less the investigation by the books' three co-authors is truly compelling to me, and whether or not their theory is way off base, it has still required to me to look at history with new perspectives, and also the origins of my faith with new perspectives.

The book is interesting enough that now I want to read more about not just my Merovingian and Capetian ancestors, but also the Knights Templar, the Freemasons, and early Christianity (from an academic perspective).

The subject matter is extremely interesting, and I recommend it to anyone who may find any of this players in the mystery to be compelling to them.

A tough read....I never got all the way through it.

This book was the inspiration for Dan Brown's The Davinci Code. Very Good Read. Makes you think - What If?

The precursor to The DaVinci Code.

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