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Buying books via our Amazon.com links helps support The Cauldron. Book Review: The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven
Author: James Wasserman Trade Paperback, 320 pages Publisher: Destiny Books Publication date: 2004 List: US$16.95, C$26.95 ISBN: 089281859X Price & More Info: Click Here	This is a book for the individual who is interested in Occult History in its best sense. Occult here refers to "hidden" as opposed to the commonly misunderstood meaning of "mystic." This is a serious work of historical compilation and research. The author is a long-time member of the O.T.O., and thus has access to many sources of information. If you are looking for accounts of idolatry, heathenism, and apostasy, you will be disappointed with this work. There are few, if any, unsubstantiated claims in this book, which is devoted to a rendering of the history of two of them most misunderstood groups before, during, and after the Crusades in the Holy Land. The author shows, in some detail, how the charges against each of the groups (Assassins and Knights Templar) came to be accepted. He shows the reality of life in the Near East during medieval times; the varying alliances, the expectations of behavior, and the cross-fertilization of cultures which occurred. This is all done based on scholarly research and not, as is often the case, on wishful thinking and rose-colored glasses. Thirty one pages are devoted to an examination of the occult/mystical nature of the Order. There is neither dismissal of these beliefs nor is there wholesale acceptance. The author presents reasonable views and allows the reader to decide individually. The appendices provide a look at the underpinnings of both the Assassins and the Knights Templar. While these appendices cannot reveal what twists and turns developed during the centuries each of these groups existed, they do show their starting points. If you are interested in the factual stories of these extremely influential organizations, you will find this book fascinating. Reviewed by Mike Gleason