The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code [Mass Market Paperback]

Sharan Newman (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 4, 2005

Millions have been enthralled by The Da Vinci Code's fascinating historical speculations-and the blockbuster novel's audience has also made bestsellers of several books offering to separate the facts from the fiction.

This comprehensive, encyclopedic volume is written by an acclaimed medievalist-and takes an objective, history-based approach to the phenomenon and the questions it has raised.

 

The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code gives easy-to-find, clear answers about the people, places, and events that play roles in Dan Brown's tantalizing thriller in a lively, encyclopedic format-shedding new light on some of the deepest mysteries of the Dark Ages.

 

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Dan Brown's novel The Da Vinci Code caused a huge sensation when it came out in 2003. The book, a modern twist on the Holy Grail quest, has sold over 20 million copies in 42 languages. It claimed to reveal an extraordinary alternate history of the Western world, including the existence of Jesus Christ's surviving bloodline, which was protected for 2,000 years by a secret society called the Priory of Sion. The question is: How much of the novel is true? Not a lot, according to Sharan Newman, a medieval novelist and scholar. Her book, The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code, investigates the historical figures, places, and events behind Brown's thriller. While The Da Vinci Code is a great yarn, she writes, it makes numerous factual distortions and was largely inspired by another book, Holy Blood, Holy Grail, that is far from credible.

The real Priory of Sion, Newman writes, was founded in the 1950s by a French far-right extremist named Pierre Plantard, who tried to pass himself off as a descendant of Dagobert II and, therefore, as the rightful king of France. Newman writes that French historians have discredited Plantard's claims as a hoax. In The Da Vinci Code, the Priory is said to have been led by an illustrious line of grand masters, including Leonardo Da Vinci. Newman writes that Leonardo, while certainly a genius, was famously erratic, undependable, and easily distracted--far too flaky, she suggests, to be chosen to lead any group, let alone one supposedly as secret and important as the Priory. Newman says The Da Vinci Code also makes basic mistakes about Parisian geography, the layout of the Louvre museum, and important facts of French and biblical history. So did Jesus have children? Newman says there is no evidence for that either. Overall, her book is a salient reminder that fiction is sometimes just that. --Alex Roslin

About the Author

Sharan Newman is a longtime member of the Medieval Academy, has served on the advisory board for the Medieval Association of the Pacific, and is a Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Barbara. Newman's medieval French mysteries have garnered Macavity, Agatha, and Anthony Award nominations, and she has won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical History.

Product Details

• Reading level: Ages 18 and up
  
• Mass Market Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Berkley Trade (January 4, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0425200124
• ISBN-13: 978-0425200124
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 6 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,338,043 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

42 of 45 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Superb DVC Companion, For Fans and Foes Alike, February 17, 2005

By 

Mark Shannon - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code (Mass Market Paperback)

I read "The Da Vinci Code" eagerly, just after its release. I was disappointed, however, when the book turned out to be little more than astute repackaging of the intriguing but generally bogus material from "Holy Blood, Holy Grail." My disappointment turned to dismay when I realized how many people--including critics I assume are paid to know better--were accepting Brown's claims to historical accuracy and legitimate research. Newman is not trying to comment on Brown's work so much as she is carefully, and one might even say lovingly, presenting a more accurate picture of the fascinating historical issues Brown touches on. She rightly points out that presenting pseudo-history as fact is nothing new. Geoffrey of Monmouth, for example, claimed his proto-Arthurian material was historical truth. So, with a keen sense of humor and a real talent for distillation, Newman gives us a collection of readable and reliable factoids. At the end of each short section she also includes excellent recommendations for further reading.

Newman's book is a superb companion piece that should serve as both a relief to secular critics of "The Da Vinci Code" and as a source of additional, engaging information for Brown's legions of fans.

38 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Brilliant! The truth behind the bestseller at last..., March 6, 2005

By 

C. Catherwood "writer" (Cambridge UK and Richmond VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code (Mass Market Paperback)

Life is unfair. Sharan Newman is a far far better writer than Dan Brown, and is someone who really does her historical homework properly. But who is the international megaseller? Dan Brown.... However, if, like me, you are someone who loves the past, and wants to know what REALLY happened in your fiction, Sharan Newman beats Dan Brown any time. This wonderful book shows why - it reveals the truth behind all the sad a-historical nonesense in the Brown book. I suspect my fellow Christians will, like me, dissent from Newman on some theological issues - her theological grasp does not, alas, match her historical knowledge - but on all issues of medieval and more recent histoy, Newman is 101% on the money and well worth reading. Give this to any friend who has been taken in by the Da Vinci Code and I am sure that they will never look at that novel in the same light again. (Let's hope they also become readers of Sharan Newman's wonderful medieval mysteries as well....) Christopher Catherwood, Cambridge UK and Richmond VA based historian (and author of CHURCHILL'S FOLLY: HOW WINSTON CHURCHILL CREATED MODERN IRAQ: Carroll and Graf)

33 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars "After reading "The Da Vinci Code" you must read this...!", January 24, 2005

By 

Russell A. Rohde MD "Owl" (West Covina, California USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code (Mass Market Paperback)

"The Real History Behind The Da Vinci Code", by Sharan Newman, New York, Berkley Books, 2005 - ISBN 0-425-20012-4, pbk, 337 pp., authored by a medievalist teacher & novelist who provides an alphabetized commentary upon 70 distinct peoples, places, events, symbolisms and physical things discussed in Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code". Newman strives to separate truths from the fabrications and, if feasible, facts from the legends but warns us her book is a 'companion' to the aforementioned.

"The Da Vinci Code" has an abstruse amount of fascinating literal chronicaled details within the text of a fictional novel and this makes it nearly impossible or at least a most challenging and difficult task to reconcile veracity between fabricated or legendary data with unpolluted materiality. In her book she points out errors and improbabilities in "The Da Vinci Code" but additionally clarifies and gives colloquy or discourse on legendary and factual material and provides a substantial list of books for Recommended Reading with footnotes to source material.

Newman gives an authoritative commentary on the people, places and times referenced in "The Da Vinci Code" in an illuminating and affirmative fashion. The author's speciality of medieval research gives life and sheds considerable truths and a lot of understanding to the intrigues, trivia and extraordinary events chronicaled in Dan Brown's novel "The Da Vinci Code" (which I'm told is to be made into a movie). Sharan's book has worthy inveiglements as inclusion of modest number of old medieval prints, etc., and the author's occasional whimsical sense of humor is appealing. I was disappointed not to find an index of the 70 alphabetized subjects nor a listing of the illustrations. Being alphabetized the book can be read in any order desired and has excellent material readily accessed. Its potent!