[.ca] Born in Blood: The Lost Secrets of Freemasonry (ISBN 0871316021)

Fascinating historical speculation. But there's more.:
Robinson does his homework and writes well. I read this book several years ago, and it sparked my long-term interest in reading about Freemasonry's verifiable origins. Recently, this led me to read 'The Origins of Freemasonry: Scotland's Century, 1590-1710', by David Stevenson, which I now recommend more highly than 'Born in Blood'. 'Scotland's Century' is the only work on the origins of Freemasonry I have ever seen that ignores the movement's vast myth-making literature and focuses instead on the surviving records of the earliest known Masonic lodges. Stevenson--who teaches history at the University of St. Andrews--paints a solid, sober, believable portrait of Freemasonry's rather prosaic origins in the operative masonic lodges of early 17th-century Scotland. Stevenson's book is a welcome and refreshing antidote to all the junk that has been written about Freemasonry in the past three centuries. It explodes Masonic authors' extravagant claims for an origin in ancient civilizations and possession of powerful supernatural secrets. It also undermines anti-Masonic authors' equally bizarre accusations of pacts with supernatural forces of evil. It replaces these fanciful images with the story of a remarkable human institution whose recent, humble, workaday origins are far more interesting than its myths. 'Born in Blood' is lots of fun to read, and I still recommend it highly. But the tale told in 'Scotland's Century' is probably a lot closer to what really happened.

A Very Well Researched, Well Written Theory of Freemasonry's Origins:
This is an excellent book which presents a very well researched and very well written theory that Freemasonry originated in the suppression of the Knights Templar in 1308 rather than from the medieval stonemasons' guilds, as official Masonic histories suggest. The conclusions Robinson draws from the available evidence are logical and rational, unlike some of the more far fetched theories on Freemasonry which have been published recently. In short, an excellent book that is well worth reading.

- A Journey with a Surprising Ending ! -:
In Masonic circles, legend and myth often overshadow actual, verifiable truth. As a published Masonic researcher, I find few books which rate this highly in scholarship value. Robinson began this project as a non-Mason, and died as one of its prime apologists and as a brother Mason. There's nothing more wondrous than to embark on a fairly predictable journey and end up at a totally different destination! Unlike the Hiram Key (sensational, yet questionable in basis of fact ), Robinson provides excitement without actually trying to do so. If you like this book, please read Robinson's " A Pilgrim's Path " - it's an answer to the religious right- who try to scare people with anything they consider to be "non-Christian" ( or competing for their donation dollars!) Solid stuff for inquiring minds...

Pure Excellence!:
This is a compelling example of how one man's passion and dedication to history can result in a masterful piece of work. The author does a fantastic job of composing a well researched historical peice along with his deductions and speculations on the Knights Templar and Freemasonry. This proves to be especially difficult due to both the limited ammount, and antiquity of written source material on these subjects. This book is a must for the library of both a dedicated mason, or anti-mason seeking enlightenment on the Knights Templar or Freemasonry. Read this work with an open mind and draw your own conclusions.

Look at the evidence:
Folks, the evidence that the Templars are the forerunners of the Masons is enormous. Lynn Picknett's book The Templar Revelation, the works of Baigent and Lincoln, and more just can't be ignored. Those who say that Freemasonry was founded by workingmen in Great Britain are people who are more emotionally comfortable with simple explanations. One of the most interesting aspects of this whole Templar-Magdalene-alternate to standard Christian worldview genre is this: the importance of Egypt in the development of Western culture. We were taught as children to think of ancient Egypt as a bizarre hotbed of mummies and Sphinxes, with sideways drawings of cool people and animals, as having captured our spiritual forefathers (the Hebrews) but as hopelessly benighted pagan ignorami. This just won't cut it any more!