Customer Reviews

The Real History Behind The Da Vinci Code

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

 

 

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.

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)

"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!

Sharan Newman is clearly a very entertaining writer. I appreciate the style here (although at times I was longing for less of the one-liners and more of an excitingly scholarly approach) and I appreciate enormously her intentions in writing this book. But ultimately this book failed to do more than give a brief snippet addressing each alphabetised topic.

Let me give a few examples. Freemasonry is treated in six short pages. (Each page, by the way, is VERY short, with considerable space between each line - we are not talking about a taxing amount to read!) The Fibonacci series gets two and a half pages. Les Dossiers Secrets, two pages. The Dead Sea Scrolls, three and a half pages. Leonardo da Vinci, six pages. Dagobert, three and a half pages (and Ms Newman spends most of that time explaining how confusing it is when there's more than one Dagobert among the Merovingian kings, which is like writing a potted history of Queen Elizabeth II and spending half of that history telling one's readers that this queen is not to be confused with Queen Elizabeth I). And so on... and so on...

My major feeling, on reading these short entries, was that Ms Newman had done a lot of secondary reading, and jotted down a few brief notes that pleased her as she was reading. I did not have the impression she knew in any degree of depth the topics mentioned. Without exception, Ms Newman appears to have read translations rather than originals, for instance - and it's obvious she has not looked at the actual source material of the Gospel of Philip, for instance, for she falls into the trap of saying that this piece of writing said that Jesus kissed Mary Magdalene "presumably on the mouth". The text does not say that, and the only presumption that the text says this is based upon translations that happily fill in with whatever suits the purpose of the translator, hardly a scholarly approach and certainly not one which can be used as a supporting argument.

I was taken aback to read that Ms Newman says "I read the sources fairly closely" when she discussed Gregory the Great. Read the sources FAIRLY CLOSELY? Good lord. When one is writing a book of this nature (i.e., a book focusing on correcting historical misinformation that is affecting so many people), one does not read "fairly closely". An amateur reads "fairly closely - a professional historian spends (hopefully) years gaining in-depth and comparative information from the primary sources, and keeps up to date with other informed writing by scholars. (Or one reads the sources with the attention, depth and speed of a fiend.) Anything less is not doing justice to the purpose.

I would very much like to have given a higher rating than three. But three is fair in view of the lack of depth and in view of the occasional historical error here. I do recommend the book as a beginning point for further study, but the further study HAS to be undertaken by the reader in order to gain anything other than a Cliff's Notes view of the topics.

For the organization by topic alone, this book is a very good study for anyone who has been interested in the Da Vinci code history. The author of _Real History_ organizes the work into sections on various details of history to which the Da Vinci Code refers. Each topic is covered in sufficient detail to give the reader a sense of what is known and what is not known about the past. Bringing it all out into the light helps the reader make a more educated approach to the topics and allows them to make their own decisions about what to believe. Mrs. Newman is an accomplished author of historical fiction as well and her talent for making history entertaining is not lost here. A very good ready reference or as an historical primer, this book will find use in your library.

Readers of The Da Vinci Code who want more to contemplate will benefit from medieval scholar Sharan Newman's special expertise in The Real History Behind The Da Vinci Code: a guide which asks questions and reveals historical truths behind common myths. From the conspiracy to downplay the human and sexual sides of Jesus to the workings of the Opus Dei Awareness Network, or ODAN, The Real History Behind The Da Vinci Code probes many religious questions from the original bestseller.

after watching the movie i went looking for more information about the issues. this was the first substantial book i encountered. a worthwhile place to start on learning more, the references on each entry are the next place to go.

I like "The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code" for two reasons. One, the author Sharan Newman does not appear to have a personal agenda spurred by either religious-based outrage or insecurities, as is the case with most other authors in their `Debunking the Da Vinci Code' tirades. Two, it is one of the more comprehensive books that address most of the issues of controversy in Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code". In scope, it goes beyond the usual Jesus-Mary (Magdelene)-bloodline-Da Vinci that has become a cliché with those other authors. For Christian lobbyists, lobbyist groups and believers that were suckered into their band wagons, that's all "The Da Vinci Code" is about. But it is more than that.

Newman has the right attitude towards "The Da Vinci Code". It is fiction, and she treats it as such. She does not go out of the way, as those other authors have done (because they have treated it as a factual work), to attack the book and its author. True, Dan Brown encouraged the controversy by purporting "The Da Vinci Code" as fact, but she keeps the focus on the subjects in the book and not on the author. In short, she does not get personal but academic. For each subject, she references the details in "The Da Vinci Code" where it appears, after which she presents the actual background and brief history (before Dan Brown re-shaped it for "The Da Vinci Code") in its true context.

The book is a good read. She gives every subject its own stand-alone chapter (Priory of Scion, Templars, Mary Magdelene, Da Vinci, Opus Dei, etc.). Each is a set of basic information but as brief as you would expect in an overview. I will not debate the author's authority on the topics she addressed. (FYI, the author's background is in medieval literature and history.) True, she does not go in-depth enough, and maybe she is not thorough enough in her efforts. But she compensates with a bibliography list at the end of every chapter, citing more than several sources so that you the reader can look up for more information.

But don't rely only on "The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code" book to address everything that's in "The Da Vinci Code". There are others out there that are like Newman's but offer a different perspective. But I recommend staying away from books that limit its scope only to Jesus, Mary Magdelene, bloodline and Da Vinci. Those reveal more about their authors' inner state: uptightness, personal outrage and impaired mindset blinded by personal convictions. Newman's book is better than that. A definite good starting point.

It might seem a bit late to be reviewing this, but actually I think the book is timelessly enjoyable and useful regardless of the Dan Brown angle. Newman gives lots of succinct info on lots of subjects of value to any person interested in Western literature and history. Especially she shows the origin of all sorts of stories which have entered our consciousness about the holy grail, the crusades, knights templars, freemasons, Opus Dei, the papacy, and some tourist sites like Westminster Abbey, Temple Church etc etc. A real cultural romp. I will not read or see the Da Vinci Code, though if you have done so, this book would be even more interesting. I'm glad to have come across not only the book, but the author: I'll be looking out for other books by Newman, including her fiction.

The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code by Sharan Newman is a good reference to refute the stupidity that is the novel, The DaVinci Code. Newman, who is working on a Phd in Medieval studies, wrote the book in response to friends, acquaintances, and co-workers asking her if this or that in The DaVinci Code was true. What started out as a pamphlet became a full fledged reference.

Unlike most books refuting The DaVinci Code, Sharan's book, takes everything Dan Brown makes reference to, be it historical, religious, or artistic and gives the reader a definition and, most importantly, the facts. In short and to the point chapters we learn about Leonardo DaVinci, Rosslyn Chapel, the Knights Templar, Opus Dei, etc. And as an added bonus you get the facts done with humor. And, unlike many authors, good and bad, who approach Dan Brown's non-existant research from a theological point of view, author Newman approach is historical and cultural.

If I found anything negative in The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code by Sharan Newman it would be her lack of balance in describing the current practices of the organization, Opus Dei. She seems to base much of what she tells us on information received from ODAN, an organization oppossed to Opus Dei practices and recruitment.

This book is the best of the books refuting the so-called facts made reference to by Dan Brown in his book The DaVinci Code.