Customer Reviews

The Brotherhood: The Explosive Expose of the Secret World of the Freemasons

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

I bought to find out how the free masonry order works and the information is there. The only draw back is you have to wade through much anecdotage on English police corruption to get to the picture. It was worth purchasing.

Knight does a fantastic job exposing the sinister activity of freemasons. Freemasonry by design is a guild and secret. By its very nature it practices favoritism and deceit. It reminds me of a title from Al Hirt "The brotherhood of man (or how to get rich without really trying)." Freemasons constantly get caught in mischief and they rant and rave when you call them on it. Freemasons have no credibility. My only criticism is that Knight doesn't point out the masonic preoccupation of freemasonry with cabala. I suppose this is because Knight was a member of Rajneesh's group, which was gnostic to the core and borrowed heavily from cabala. Ironically, Rajneesh was a freemason. Knight was a little naive in this respect.

I believe this book is well written to tell the truth about the secret society. Ye shall know the truth and the truth will set you free. there needs to be more books like this one.

An interesting account of Freemasonry from an outsiders view. He noted that many outsiders would not publish works on the subject for fear of offending or causing resentment among the Freemasons. Despite this, Knight gives insight into the origins and fundamental points of Freemasonry and the process of recruitment and initiation into the explored. He also examines the power and influence in politics and the religious beliefs. Index I of this study includes Information For Candidates (from The Universal Book of Craft Masonry) with suggested readings and Masonic periodicals. Purporting to expose the 'evils' of Masonry primarily in the United Kingdom, this book (written in the early 1980s and, as the author states, in a very short time) seeks to further incite the public as a follow-up to his prior work which claimed that Jack the Ripper was a Mason!

Mr. Knight weaves a tale from his imagination using any 'unnamed sources' whom he claims were at the highest levels of Freemasonry. One such example is a "West End Mason". Ironically, that person - whom, like all of his sources, Knight claims needed anonymity, has identified himself online as being James Todd who publishes an online rant aptly called "VOMIT" ('Victims of Masonic Ill-Treatment'). Todd, curiously, was never an English Mason but rather joined in Scotland and was a member there for a short period. He claims that he was forced to join the organization and, clearly, hated it. Suffice it to say, no one is forced to join Freemasonry (particularly in Scotland) and Todd's attitudes and age (not to mention his abiding hatred for politicians and police) are hardly conducive to an honest presentation. You can read all about Mr. Todd's anti-Masonic and anti-Semitic rants right here. Using sources such as this to support his work puts Mr. Knight on a very shaky foundation indeed.

From the Southern Baptist Convention's Study on Freemasonry we learn that Knight rejected the Christian faith, became a Sannyasin (a religious belief we've found precious little about), and changed his name to Swami Puja Deval in 1983. He died of a (proven) brain tumor in 1985 but anti-Masons enjoy hinting that he was somehow murdered to silence him. (The claim of Masonic actions against those who speak against Freemasonry is easily disproven by the continued lives of other anti-Masonic authors - as well as the death of Masonic authors and historians!)

Even today, UK politicians looking for a 'hook' on which to garner favor will use this book as their crutch. Imagined and/or phony characters painted to look their worst so the author could sell yet another book and appeal to people's fears, this one succeeded and now is the false basis for many anti-Masonic rants.

I myself am not a Freemason and haven't read extensively into this society, so I cannot vouch for the accuracy of this work. But what I can say, is that Knight has succeeded in his endeavour of providing an unbiased study into freemasonry.

Though originally published in 1983, the Brotherhood is still a relevant study giving a limited study into the workings and ethics of freemasonry up until the publication date.
The book has been divided into six sections, the main ones deal with how Free Masonry affects the police, the judicial system, politics and the alleged KGB connection.

Knight, through his Freemasonry contacts, shows how Freemasonry adversely affects the workings of the police and the judicial system so that things like promotions are clearly biased against non freemasons. Evidence of cover-ups, and even fraud, by freemasons do occur, but Knight is quick to state that this is quite often perpetrated by people who just happened to be freemasons, rather than it happening because of Freemasonry.
But on the other side of the coin Knight also quotes other Freemasons who assert that they honestly have never witnessed such things (though they would say that!). It is evident from Knights research of both sides of his thesis, that such preferential treatment is endemic, with such ill effects of Freemasonry often being absent in different locales.

Night's chapter on the KGB connection is quite interesting. Knight states that any foreign intelligence agency would be daft NOT to instruct spies to join a Freemasonry society. This is because if one is a Freemason then the chances of promotion to higher ranks is almost always greater. Night even alleges that this has actually happened in Britain's intelligence service. Night alleges that Rodger Hollis, director general of MI5 for 30 years, was himself a Russian spy, and the evidence that Night tables is quite convincing.

Overall this is quite a good book, well written and researched, it provides an unbiased account of Freemasonry up until 1983. Due to the fact that 'The Brotherhood' is over 25 years old one would rightly question it's relevency to Freemasonry today. So the only thing that I am marking against it is it's old age. Though I suppose if one is going to read further into the subject, age is irrelevant in this case.

Four stars.

Since joining the police I have found that emoting a fraterenal connection with fellow criminals has made this book mean something great.

Let's admit it. In our modern society of information overload, most of us know that Freemasonry is a complex organization that is not just a harmless do-good society which many people still falsely believe. Of all the 'exposes' out there this book by Stephen Knight stands alone for the sole fact that less than 2 years after this book was published Stephen Knight was poisoned to death. . . . . Hmmm? Makes you wonder. . . . . . This alone should tell you that a lot of high level Masons are obviously afraid of the information disclosed in this book. . . . . which in some ways makes Stephen Knight a martyr. . . . .

A penetrating exposure of abuses of freemasonry in England which was made possible by the members of "The Brotherhood" who shared the authors concerns. This book was a catalyst for the sweeping changes in English freemasonry as the oldest Grand Lodge in the world was forced to go public to clean up its act.

i found this book was very interesting, he put his reasearch togather so you as a reader can make you own judgement on freemasonary. If you don't know too much on this subject i recomend that you read this book.

It's a rather informative book in all. I must say, however, that some of the people who bash the book are not very literate (putting it kindly) and are more than likely Masons themselves. They must know that the more they trash a book like this, the more anxious it makes people to own a copy. (See the circulation of the National Enquirer.) I'm happy I bought this book. I think if the Masons weren't SO caught up in being hush-hush, the thrill of uncovering secrets would disappear. And why would they hide things if they did everything on the up-and-up and were so upstanding? Makes me believe every word in this book.