The Knights Templar: The History and Myths of the Legendary Military Order

If you want a throrough history of the knights templars, plus a review of all the conspiracy theories of how it allegedly survives to the present day this may be your book. However, one of the reasons I bought this book was out of nostalgia for knights in shining armor and my inner history buff's infatuation with the crusades. The lack of colored pictures makes me think I should have bought another book, or at least a more illustrated one in addition to this. This is more suited to those who just want the historical facts and post disbandment theories in a short amount of time. I did buy the downloadable PC game Medieval: Total War, which did satisfy my desire to see Templars in action in full color, also from Amazon. So I guess I used this book as something of an historical companion to it.

This being my 1st book about this particular topic, "The Knights Templar" was a very easy read, and I think a good start in the field of Templar History. Sean Martin breaks everything out in a very understandable way. He discusses their origin and how The Templars began. He makes note of all the different kings, and various religious orders involved in the Crusades. After viewing the wonderful film, "Kingdom Of Heaven" recently released - you see some great characters come to life again, namely: Saladin, King Guy, King Baldwin the leper, etc).I like the way Sean Martin explains the mysteries in the last section of the book. He goes into detail about the myths surrounding this unbelievable organization. Also, towards the end of the book, we see the decline of The Templars. It goes to show that when someone/some organization gets too powerful, the government will do whatever is necessary to rid the world of their existence. The same practice is still present in today's society! Nevertheless, it's still hard to believe that anyone had the ability to take The Templars down (being as rich, powerful, and influential as they were). *They had received papal bulls from Pope Innocent II (and a few popes to follow) which granted them unprecedented power without having to answer to anyone, kings included - simply amazing! The Templars had "divine power" (answering solely to the pope) and they used that leverage to their advantage for any endeavor they pursued. We'll never see that kind of institution again!I will definitely have to read this book again to get more acquainted with the times, important figures, events and so on. For a small paperback, there is a lot of information to take in which makes this book a great little treasure to have! However, it will be a pleasure to read this book another time, and furthermore, I will use "The Knights Templar" as my guide to pursuing more books of the same interest. I hope to expand my knowledge about The Templars, and the power they held like no one else in history!

Very good read. Concise and not speculative. Before reading it I was kind of influenced by conspiracy theorists, Umberto Eco and Dan Brown. It seems to me now that the Templars were just instrument and then victims of the usual human machinations.Smartly the author does not delve into Grail and Treasure issues, commonly associated to the Templars, leaving to you a list of nice references.

I am halfway through this book, very enjoyable read.

I have written other short reviews about peoples interests and what type of books people like, Well I really like this book and if you are into the Knights and their history, I feel you will like it also

The Knights Templar is ideal for someone trying to make sense of the complexity of Templar tales. It is well referenced and amazingly easy to read considering the time span and geographic extent involved in the subject matter.

I thought this was an excellent book on a very controversial group in history. I think the book stuck well to factual accounts of the Templars. It did address the many rumors about the group but kept things in perspective as to the certainty of the accounts unlike other books about the Templars. This was an easy read and an enjoyable book

While not an exhaustive history, this book does give a very well written and concise history of the Knights Templar. It also has an appendix covering the fate of the order, as well as some of the myths about where its members ended up after their suppression by the Church.

This book although short is a straightforward, unembellished, history of the Knights Templars, from their inception to their destruction and concludes with possible explanations of what happened next. It is an easy read, but not simplistic and serves as an excellent introduction before diving into the more complex books.

This book's greatest virtue is its simplicity, in that it is the story of the Knights Templar stripped to the basic facts. From Hugues De Payen to Jacques De Molay, there isn't time for a dull moment in a fast paced narrative detailing the major battles and known individuals that made up the Knights Templar, and revealing some revealing information about life in 'Outremer' in the middle ages such as the routine employment of 'Saracens' in the administrative sections of the Templar's activites and their role in the invention of the banking system.The fourth section details some of the sketchier elements of Templar history and mythology, but the author is to be commended for sticking with the known facts and only proposing some of the more outlandish theories as speculation. The links with the Portugese Knights of Christ are particularly interesting, and I will look forward to exploring this subject further. Highly recommended.

This short volume is very easy to read and covers all the points of the Templar History.It is only an introduction and if you want to find more about the Templars I recommend "The Dramatic History of the Knights Templarby Piers Paul Read "The book contains 3 maps with all the main locations but hardly any details and no pictures. It has a very good selected bibliography and footnotes.As the history spans for more than 2 centuries the book concentrates on the politics of the order rather than in any specific event.It can be read in a couple of hours.

I had heard many myths regarding the Knights Templar so this book offered a fair and balanced view both of perceived historical facts and more fanciful conjecture.It is written in an easy style which makes the read enjoyable as well as informative.

An excellent introduction to the subject. Gives plenty of background information about the Crusader period of the 12th and 13th century and puts the templars into context. The book highlights the lack of written period documents about the templars but doesn't put forward any silly conjecture.