Customer Reviews

Pirates and the Lost Templar Fleet: The Secret Naval War Between the Templars & the Vatican

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

 

 

I came to this book thinking that I would find some link between the Knights Templar and Pirates, but boy was I looking in the wrong place. The author had maybe 20 pages of new stuff and the rest of the book was a rehash on every other Templar Treasure book out there. And then just to piss you off, he never gives you any evidence that the Templars were in fact the Pirates. Do yourself a favor and go read the 20 pages about the pirates in a bookstore and save some cash.

This book is typical of Childress' books--mildly entertaining, but ultimately vaccuous. Chldress gives credence to every half-baked rumor and legend while failing to provide any level of decent support for his basic premise. If you're soldiered through his some of his other books you'll find material virtually rehashed word for word. If you like a collage of hodge podge stories and fabrications, you'll have fun enough but don't expect much in the way of substance.

David Hatcher Childress is a prolific writer of books on alternative history and conspiracy theory. However, neither friend nor foe will like this one. People like myself who don't find conspiracy theory convincing, will reject it for that reason. But even those who believe will be disappointed. "Pirates and the Lost Templar Fleet" contains nothing new. It's essentialy a rehash of ideas taken from other and more well-written books. In a sense, this book by Childress is "pirated".

My main problem with it, however, is not so much the conspiracy theories themselves. Obviously, a conspiracist writer believes in conspiracies. That goes with the territory. My main problem is that the book also contain many purely factual errors.

For instance, Childress writes that the Seljuk Turks ruled their empire from Constantinople-Istanbul around the year 1090. Come again? In reality, the Seljuk Turks never conquered Constantinople. That was accomplished by the Ottoman Turks, but only in 1453! "Around the year 1090", Constantinople was still the capital of the Byzantine Empire, which was neither Muslim nor Turk. This is not a minor error. Indeed, it's common knowledge that Constantinople fell to the Muslims in 1453. At least it should be to writers of medieval history.

Childress further claims that the Templars set up the Kingdom of Jerusalem. But the Templars didn't even exist during the First Crusade! He writes that the Normans who conquered Sicily before the crusades were Templars. Once again: there were no Templars at that time.

Most of these factual errors have no direct bearing on the conspiracy theories advocated by the writer. But some do. Childress wonders why the Templars were founded at all. After all, the Knights Hospitaller already existed, so why the need for a second order to defend the Holy Land? Surely, Childress believes, the Templars must have been formed for some other and more mysterious purpose? A reasonable question. The "only" problem with it, is that the Knights Hospitaller didn't defend the Holy Land at the time of the Templars' founding. They were originally a purely charitable fraternity! Indeed, the Hospitaller knights didn't become militarized until over a decade after the formation of the Templars. Thus, there was nothing strange about the Templars: they were indeed formed to militarily defend the crusader states.

Occasionally, I suspect that the author of this book tries to pull a fast one. Thus, Childress writes about the mysterious region of "Catalunya" and the language "Catalunian" which is supposedly related to Phoenician. But there is nothing mysterious about Catalonia (a region in Spain). It's about as mysterious as Downtown Manhattan. Nor is the Catalonian language a Semitic language. Indeed, it's very closely related to Spanish. Childress must know this, since by his own admission he has visited Catalonia. So what are you trying to pull, brother?

No, this book only gets one star out of five. It completely looses its way, somewhere in mid-transit to Arcadia. Or Catalunya.

I am a firm believer in the concept that you must read every available source to get a complete understanding of the subject material (for me the subject is pirates). Ultimately, that means you will run across books like this one, with very little constructive value.

I have to speculate that with the hype over the Da Vinci Code and the first Pirates of the Caribbean movie (not to mention National Treasure), that the author has scraped together a bunch of disparate material in order to hit the market with a book that has some appeal to a wide audience. The book covers everything from world mapping Phoenicians to the Templars to the Middle-Eastern Assassins to Scottish Masons to the US war for independence and vague references to pirates from the Golden Age of Piracy.

I found the book to be entertaining reading, with a few chuckles, some LOLs and even one good ROFL. However, as a serious resource this book is lacking. My impression of the author's research methodology is: 1) formulate theory, 2) find supporting passages from other conspiracy theory authors, 3) claim theory is true. As an example, the author claims the Jolly Roger, skull and cross bones as a Templar symbol, ignoring the fact that the symbol dates from Roman times and most conventional historians like Peter Earle in his The Pirate Wars place the first recorded pirate use of the Jolly Roger at around 1700.

So, my recommendation is that there are so many good books on pirates out there with more substance, avoid this one, unless you are desperate to make some tenuous connection between the Templars and pirates

I'm halfway through and skimmed the rest. Sorry I didn't read these reviews before buying it on impulse when browsing at a bookstore. Even first skimming it there didn't discourage my purchase.

The book is interesting. But it's hardly a book about pirates. It's full of casual references to the Knights Templar, almost always reiterating that they were disbanded and at odds with the vatican. It's hardly about war.......between anybody. It's hardly more than a skeletal history of the Knights Templar.

Some of the bibliography, references and footnotes (so to speak) refer to the author's own books and others by the same publisher. The resulting illusion is that the references are all factual, true or from learned sources.

The book is cleverly marketed with front and back graphics extolling its contents. Although interesting and thought provoking, speculative questions are raised with the promise of finding out in the fascinating pages inside. That promise is not fulfilled. The questions are raised again and again with very loose threads as convenient premises supposedly leading to logical or proven conclusions.

At best, the book introduces the worldwide exposure and interests of the Knights Templar and continually raises the questions of what happened to their treasures, secrets, personnel and fleet upon disbanding. Most interesting is the speculation about ancient maps and their wonderous detail and sources.

Look, for a modest price it was interesting and thought provoking, but not informative about Pirates, the Vatican, secret wars or United States history as tied to the Templars, Freemasonry or other secret societies.

This is not a history book. History books document their sources and reflect on why the author believes something and not something else. This was a recital of everyone else's theories with some reference to acknowledged fiction.

This book is quite good. It offers different views on sea travel and piracy than are normally placed in the public's view. I think that the author could have added even more, to make things even more well rounded, but there is nothing that I can do about that. :)

Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet: The Secret Naval War Between The Knights Templar & The Vatican by David Hatcher Childress is an informed and informative study, an impressive history which opens new interpretations and possibilities between the lines of the official records. When the Templars were disbanded by papal order in 1307, their great fleet disappeared from its base at La Rochelle. What happened to these ships and their treasures? Pirates & The Lost Templar Fleet explores a number of fascinating possible theories, including the hypothesis that some Templars reached Canada 100 years before Columbus -- who perhaps had Templar maps in his possession when he set sail. Black-and-white illustrations embellish this amazing and iconoclastic study and theoretical reconstruction of the unknown. Also very highly recommended are three other thematically related titles from Adventures Unlimited Press: The History Of The Knights Templar; The Tamplars' Legacy In Montreal, The New Jerusalem; and Nostradamus And The Lost Templar Legacy.

Childress' book will be found interesting by Templar novices. The author basically brings together a variety of Templar theories he gleans from other books. It's kind of a Cliff Notes or intro to the subject. He ties it in with some musings on early explorations of North America and ancient maps. He doesn't do much critical analysis or in-depth research, only observing what others have concluded. So don't expect perfection in every fact and he throws out the occasional wild conjecture. Childress veterans will notice some sections lifted from his Lost Cities books.

The Templars in America and Columbus theories are worth a study, but done better in other books. He could sometimes be a bit more scholarly. He writes Sir Henry was attacked by Vatican commandos. His reason? It "seems likely" to him. Or that the Middle Ages were a time of "religious suppression of science and discovery." Really? Since when? See The Victory of Reason: How Christianity Led to Freedom, Capitalism, and Western Success.

And if you are looking for any substance to the Templar-pirates theory, you'll be scratching your head at the end of the book. His argument seems to be "there was a lost fleet and some skull and crossbone images on things and mason pirates so the Templars must have become pirates." It really doesn't make sense. And the war with the Vatican? The book never explains that one. We now know the Vatican obsolved them of any crimes, see The Templars: The Secret History Revealed. I'll give the book 2 stars for the parts on early America visits, Columbus and Hapgood and the fact that this is one of the better designed AUP books. But when a book says its about a war with the Vatican and Tempalrs becoming pirates, one expects something to that effect.

If you are a serious Templar scholar, try the classic histories Knights Templar: The Essential History and Dungeon, Fire and Sword: The Knights Templar in the Crusades. For some detailed looks at "alternate" theories, try Christopher Columbus, the Last Templar and Templars in America: From the Crusades to the New World. And for those of you who think the Holy Grail is a Jesus bloodline, see The Historical Jesus: Ancient Evidence for the Life of Christ and The Case for Christ: A Journalist's Personal Investigation of the Evidence for Jesus.

Childress, independent historian and adventurer, has really done his best to provide a thorough, insightful exploration of the history of the Knights Templar. This necessarily covers many other vital historical issues, from the crusades and Islamic "Assassins" to the Scottish Rite Masons and the American Revolution. Childress examines the interactions of the Templars with the Assassins during the crusades as well as with European Monarchies over successive centuries. He provides much detail and many photos and pictures regarding the cartographic resources of the Templars. A full examination of the identity of Christopher "Columbus" is provided, and readers will even discover which Templar leader was one of several persons to be "President" of the U.S.A. prior to the ratification of the Constitution and election of George Washington. This author is very rational and attempts to be objective about important historical issues, making his book on the Templars one of the best. Whether you are new to this topic or have read other works, this book is informative and highly readable.