I must confess that my skin is a little thin these days with respect to the number of books flooding the market; each claiming to reveal the truth about the Templars and whatever relic the author has selected from the Chinese Menu that is Templar speculation. However, this one seems to top them all blending the crusades, Atlantis, the pyramids and a variety of other esoteric subjects.

Since National Treasure and the Da Vinci Code have made the Knights Templar somewhat of a household word, there have been many books placed on the market to cash in on their popularity this book is not one of them.

Often people who read books about the Knights Templar take themselves a little too seriously and more often than not those who write them fall into the same trap. Occasionally a writer comes along who is not afraid to have a little fun with the subject.

Oddvar Olsen is no stranger to readers of this publication. The English Templar researcher contributed to our eighth issue with an article on Henry de Blois, the Bishop of Winchester. Olsen is also the publisher and editor of The Temple, a periodical on the Knights Templar and related subjects, which he started in 2002.

The Manual of the Warrior of the Light by Paulo Coelho, revives the tradition of Benjamin Franklin’s Poor Richard’s Almanac, George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behaviour and Andrew Carnegie’s The Gospel of Wealth. It is actually a handbook or a primer of a code of conduct for the 21st Century Knight or anyone who works toward a higher good.

This book was first published in 1991 in French and finally translated into English and published in 2005. The majority of the book deals with the history of operative masonry in Europe, particularly in France, and how it developed from the Roman Collegia to the guilds of cathedral builders under the auspices of the Church. The author delves into the details of Templar place names throughout France and Paris, including those of buildings, towns, and roads, and describes the relationship between the operative masons, known as “francs-meitres”, and the many other trades then in existence.

An Interview With Katherine Kurtz co-author of The Temple And The Crown.