Rating: 
Summary: Not For True Christians
Review: you gotta have a strong stomach to read this one. atheists, muslims and jews probably won't be very surprised by many of the theories and uncommon facts bestowed here, but if you were raised under blind christian faith and accepted it throughout your life, this is one book that will make you wonder, wonder, wonder. endless facts about the life of christ, the magdalen and all of holy history...numerous educated guesses concerning the existence of the priory of scion and the holy grail...open-ended hypotheses about the lineage of jesus and the probable hoax of crucifixion...all these things will amaze and shock the layman and the scholar. and you don't have to believe a word of it. from what i understand, quite a bit of what's in this novel is agreed upon throughout the koran, dead sea scrolls and many holy scriptures and historical documents. yet still, devout christians continue to turn a blind eye to all possiblities and impossibilities. the piece challenges you to take the bible for what it is and go to heaven, opting for the safe way out, or be risky and understand facts and ideas and biblical inconsistensies and question life as you know it and probably burn in hell. tough room. a great deal of the book is like reading a dictionary. some of it bored the heck out of me, but there is some truly riveting stuff in the middle and near the end. the authors should thank dan brown for many, many recent purchases of this outdated book. the funny thing is, a guy who works for me is loosely related to the Merovingians. he has asked to borrow the book, but he has to wait in line. i have 3 other coworkers who wish to read it first.
Rating: 
Summary: It's about time!!!
Review: Finally the mythical shroud clouding the messianic era and the time of the holy temple is stirred. This book offers a fascinating insight and alternate view to one of history's greatest mysterys: Who was Jesus? This is merely exposes a shadow of a vast juggernaut hidden in the catacombs of the Vatican and denied by the catholic church.
Rating:
Summary: Holy Moley, Holy Cow
Review: I first read this as a credulous 15-year-old, but even then I found the claims to be entirely unsupported by the evidence cited. In the years since then, I am amazed that I could have been that generous. This is a classic case of conspiracy theory and pseudo history: cite a few plausible assertions as proven fact, and then pile loads of implausible claims and speculations on top of those supposed proven facts. It makes for a gripping narrative, but rapidly departs from what we know as reality. This is not to say that this isn't an extremely entertaining book, but only if you approach it entirely as a work of fiction. It is a fantastic yarn, and lots of fun, but please don't take it seriously at all. The three stars is a combined rating: 1 star for the historical accuracy, 5 stars for the overall entertaining nature of the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Nice story
Review: I bought this book from a bookstore ontop of Rennes-le-chateau. At that time, I was 2 weeks in France, dying to read something English and this was a god-send. It helped set the mood for the rest of my travels in the region. Nice story, but some of the claims seem to be abit far-fetched, even to a non-christian like me.
Rating:
Summary: A little this A little that
Review: When I began reading this book I was very enthusistic and eager to learn all. Holy Blood, Holy Grail is an extremely thoroughly well researched book. About two-thirds of the way through I reflected how much I had learnt from it about medieval history and European royalty. At the same time I couldn't help but wonder where the controversy, or brouhaha lay, then the authors hit me with the theory all their well documented research was building towards. It almost knocked me out. This book is informtive yet not at all dry or dull, I could describe it as a combination Indiana Jones meets The Ten Commandments haha. The theory while I don't personally subscribe to it is very plausible and often well thought out. The book builds like a symphony raising with a crescendo of text building to fill all the senses. Holy Blood Holy Grail also gives one much to think and speculate upon which I think in the end is the suthors' only mandate, so I say they succeed very well indeed.
Rating: 
Summary: Unreadable
Review: I don't understand how anyone could read this book. It's basically a list of names and places. My recommendation would be to read Dan Brown's "The Da Vinci Code", which is ostensibly based on "Holy Blood, Holy Grail". "The Da Vinci Code" is extremely entertaining and comes to the same conclusion without droning on about all of the boring linkages, which may or may not be true anyway. In the interest of full disclosure, I gave up 186 pages into this 413-page book. But, I give it one star because I believe the authors did a lot of research and deserve something for their effort. I think they would have written a better book by summarizing their findings in about 100 pages (and use a 300-page appendix to detail the research).
Rating:
Summary: A good read, but a little overhyped.
Review: I bought the 1987 reprint of this 1982 book about 15 years ago; it's a little long-winded, but an ideal companion for any conspiracy theorist setting out on a long bus journey. (Bring a notepad and pen!) My copy has the words "Explosively controversial" in a yellow band on the cover, and two pages of quotes about the book from the world's press; it really doesn't live up to that sort of hype. The picture prompted me to check my copy, as I thought my memory was going. I was right, though - the original title was "The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail" - I wonder why they felt the need to "streamilne" it?
Rating:
Summary: excellent study
Review: It amazes me how many of these reviews are so negative as to assume that this book could not be correct in its assumptions that Jesus was not a divine being but simply a man. Being a man, he would have been subject to the human drama with all its joys and sorrows no matter how spiritual a man he was. What seems sad to me indeed(and should be addressed) is the mass consciousness of a society that has been continuously manipulated and controlled by dogma.
Rating:
Summary: Don't know nothin' 'bout history ...
Review: If you like this book, might I suggest the Protocals of Zion?
Rating:
Summary: If you love a good conspiracy theory...
Review: ...then you'll love this book. Buried treasure, Knights Templar, Cathars, Rosicrucians, evil-scheming/goddess-suppresing Catholics, Mary Magdalene as the foundress of the Merovingians, and a Jesus who faked his Crucifixion. And anagrams! Did I mention anagrams? If conspiracism is the sophistication of the ignorant, these fellows are pretty darned--well, you can imagine. If you're a student of logic, if you're a reporter or attorney or analyst of any sort, the logical leaps made by the authors will leave you dizzy, breathless, and grudgingly impressed by the wilful suspension of disbelief. The footnotes are fascinating; in there you'll learn just how many "sources" cited in the main text turn out to be unavailable, illegible (!), or in fact cited from some squirrelly, unconfirmable source. But the paucity of orginal or confirming materials is, of course, part of the conspiracy. Hey, if THEY can cover up the reign of Dagobert II, THEY can do anything! I can't stress how much fun this book is. You won't believe a lick of it, but you'll have a good time on the ride. It's a useful companion piece to "The Da Vinci Code," whose author has obviously digested the Baigent-Leigh-Lincoln canon.
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