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Illustrated Masonic Secrets of America's Founding Fathers

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I must confess that I am not a Freemason, but I have always been interested in its beginnings in America. With Dan Brown's new book "The Lost Symbol," my interest in this subject certainly increased. I must also confess that seeing George Washington on the cover of this book dressed in Masonic clothing is a side I've seen in the history books. I learned that the cover is from an old painting.

What I like about this book, beside its in-depth look at George Washington's affiliation with Freemasonry, is that it's not some modern author's spin on what freemasonry was 200 years ago. The entire book has sections and chapters from the best masonic texts of the 1800s and early 1900s. The illustrations are apparently from these old texts.

This is a fascinating book that really makes you think about the influence Masonry had on a fledgling America. Who knew founding fathers like George Washington, Paul Revere and Benjamin Franklin were not only Masons, but Grand Master Masons? I also found the many references to the Masonic cornerstones on various political buildings in and around Washington D.C. to be interesting.

What I didn't like in this book is the Biblical list of "Brother" Mason names in a few of the sections. I am sure this is important to the history of Masonry in America, but not for me. All-in-all this is an excellent and compelling read. I was surprised to see it was given 1 star, but then I saw that the 1 star reviewer is the author of his own Masonic book and so he panned this one. Lol!

Everyone will read "The Lost Symbol," but read this afterward to get a non-fiction perspective of Freemasonry as it began in America. It is worth the time.

This disappointing volume is actually cobbled together from previously published books, like Sidney Hayden's 'Washington and His Masonic Compeers.' While the publisher does point out the titles of the originals in the preface, no attempt is made to cite the sources of the text as it appears in the book. And, as you can probably imagine, there are no Masonic "secrets" revealed here.

It might have been useful as a digest with a few footnotes, but without knowing what passages came from where, it is the next best thing to useless.