Yes, some of this book has since been debunked. Mainly the part about the Priory of Sion. After all it was written more than 20 years ago, but for me it was a real page turner. If you come away with nothing else, you'll learn that there were many opportunities for The Church (the Roman Catholic Church) and others to play fast and loose with what we thought were the literal words of God (the Bible, particularly the New Testament). First of all church fathers got together and decided which books belonged in the new testament and which didn't sometimes by narrow margins. They also played politics. books written by certain types of groups of Christians weren't allowed into the Bible. Then of course, sometimes the books were translated back and forth several times among Aramaic, Hebrew, Latin, Greek, Coptic, and finally down to English. And finally the authors tell you to believe what you want, but the material they offer is possible, maybe not true, but possible. It opened my mind. Al

Wow. This book is amazing. Packed with facts and other material necessary to reach the tantalyzing conclusion, this book was a quick read (esp. given how tiny the print is). At times its hard to get through all the detail, but it so interesting I couldn't help but forge on through. I was surprised by the conclusions but also pleased. I'm so glad I finally read this book!

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.

Interesting for the details on the research behind the Da Vinci Code, but slow going for me. I found it more speculative than I expected.

After reading the DaVinci code I found the book a slow read, but it is full of historical facts and places.

Lots of detail, but I just could not get through it. The material was interesting but there was so much detail it was easy to miss something, leaving you confused a couple of pages later. If I had more time to read at each sitting, I may have enjoyed it, but it was hard to get into it the book when I only had time to read 5-10 pages at a time.

This is the "academic" basis for much of The DaVinci Code. The authors of the book actually sued Dan Brown for stealing their material. The writing itself is a bit dry, but it's definitely worth reading, especially in the context of The DaVinci code and subsequent articles and TV programs about Grail Theory.

I read it when it was first published and still enjoy it - event went to a hardback copy. As with Dan Brown's books some will not read it because they "don't want to challenge my faith" -- but opening your eyes to a possible different view is not a challenge to faith.

Although there are some paralells in this and Dan Brown's book, their take is TOTALLY different. There are some things that make you think, "hummm, interesting thought". Then, some of it seems just pulled out of thin air- the "man when they do math 2+2 must equal 5, because this doesn't make sense".

Sadly, it was very dryly written and way too verbose.

I couldn't get past the first few chapters. Just read the DaVinci Code.

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My husband just loved this book.

Didn't read.

Well written, well documented, fascinating view of a complicated, yet controversial subject.
From the back cover: Is the traditionaly accepted view of the life of Christ in some way incomplete? Is it possible Christ did not die on the cross? Is it possible Jesus was married, a father, and that his bloodline still exists? Is it possible that parchments found in the south of France a century ago reveal one of the best kept secrets in Christendom? Is it possible that these parchments contain the very heart of the mystery of the Holy Grail? According to the authors of this provocative, meticulously researched book, not only are these things possible--they are probably true! So revolutionary, so original, so convincing, that the most faithful Christians will be moved; here is the book that has sparked world wide controversy.

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