An essential notion in the #1 New York Times bestseller The Da Vinci Code is the existence of an age-old French society, the Priory of Sion, whose task it is to protect Christ's sacred bloodline. In The Sion Revelation, Picknett and Prince reveal the story of the Priory, taking readers on a highly significant, disturbing, and even alarming ride through history into an intriguing world where a great many uncomfortable facts will have to be faced, both religious and political.

Drawing on a wealth of astonishing evidence, they answer numerous questions that shroud this society, including:

• Does the Priory actually exist or is the group's entire history an elaborate hoax?

• Was Leonardo da Vinci really one of the Priory's Grand Masters?

• What is the truth behind Pierre Plantard, the enigmatic French aristocrat who claimed to be a Priory Grand Master -- and who some claim was a Nazi sympathizer?

• Could the Priory be a front for other occult societies in Europe with religious or even political agendas?

By carefully untangling centuries of obfuscation, rumor, and documented fact, The Sion Revelation unravels the great intricacies of this secret society and takes us on a historical journey that is as groundbreaking in its explanation as it is riveting in its telling.

While the book is well written, most of the information in it is available elsewhere and will be familiar to afficianados of Rennes-Le-Chateau. And for anyone expecting some sort of breakthrough, the book's climax is a huge let down. According to the authors, the historical goal of the Priory of Sion and its supporters, assuming they exist, is a unified Europe. That's it. I kid you not. So they've pretty much accomplished what they set out to do, and have now quietly retired into the sunset. I wish things really were that simple. I'm quite sure the authors know they aren't...but they simply didn't know where else to go.....

Why read a 430-page book about what is known to be a hoax? I myself was reluctant until I read a quote from this book in Armin Risi's outstanding _Machtwechsel Auf Der Erde_ that pointed out a connection to political events and political figures. Some of this has already been mentioned on other works but I did like Picknet and Prince's _The Templar Revelation_.

This book is divided into two parts: Illusion and Reality. The first part deals with the mythology of the Priory of Sion (PS). What it has said about itself, what its members have said, what they have written, the documents they planted, what others have written about it. Here we encounter the various stories of the Merovingians, Mary Magdalene, Jesus' bloodline, John the baptist, Leonardo, Rennes-les-Chateau, Sauniere, treasures, templars, medieval orders and conspiracies, Plantard etc. What we find is that most of the theater about the PS is often not of their own doing but they suddenly found themselves in the spotlight and that the PS didn't really use or abuse this sudden fame. We also get to meet every character involved, and there are lots and lots of them throughout history who obviously don't have any direct connection with PS. The authors do a good job of following almost every trail and are critical and objective. They identify the lies, the fabrications, the manipulations but also point out where there might be a trace of truth, and they admit, when necessary, that they have reached the limits of research and are not sure what to make of this or that. They are not dogmatists, either pro or con PS. They just give a fair assesment of the whole PS event. But if the mythology is mostly unreliable, what is this all about? The authors hint at some political current underlying the actions and beliefs of PS and its circle of influence.

In the second part, Reality, the authors present their case of what PS is all about given that the PS mythology is just illusion. We move from religious heresy to esoteric groups to political events and find some of the same characters involved in the PS illusion plotting and carrying out political conspiracies around the time of WWII and after in France. The authors discuss an aweful lot of esoteric groups and character, spending a full chapter of the branches and divisions of Masonry and the supposed differences between them. Yet by the end of the book you realize that that line of investigation doesn't lead anywhere. Unfortunately it's only in the last chapter and 30 pages that the authors discuss recent politics in Europe. The authors claim that throughout the history in question one informal group and doctrine has turned out to exert the most influence and is behind important historical events. To make their case they somewhat lose the objectivity displayed in part one. The connections between characters are murky. At best there may be a doctrinal connection although this cannot be easily established either.

I found it dissappointing that there are no photographs in this book. A lot of places, artifacts, buildings are discussed in detail, that would have required pictures. The organization of the book could also have been better. Perhaps a straightforward chronological order would have helped clarify things. If some of the articles on Wikipedia are to be trusted, there are some factual errors in this book as well. I would give it a 3.5 / 5. It is very readable and humorous at times.

This book did satisfy my initial interest by showing the doctrines the ruling elites of different countries and through different times hold and the methods they use to achieve their goals. These methods have changed over time and that shows that the elites are learning from their failures. At the same time the newer ways are even more sinister and despicable. Some paragraphs quoted in this book, written by some curious
characters centuries ago, are shocking in so far as they read like recipes used by the self-righteous elites of today to force their twisted agenda onto the world. If one wants to understand, for instance, why the neocons do what they do and how they go about doing it, one will find some of the skincrawling answers here.

Recommended as a first and perhaps only book if you want to find out what PS, Rennes-le-Chateau, and the relationship between politics and esotericism is about and how that has impacted and continues to impact present days politcs.

I read The Sion Revelation: The Truth About the Guardians of Christ's Sacred Bloodline, The Rozabal Line, The Woman with the Alabaster Jar: Mary Magdalen and the Holy Grail and The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History (Plus) within the space of a couple of months. It seems to me that everyone is so busy finding a "cover up" by the Church that the actual value of the teachings of Jesus has been given secondary treatment. Maybe it's time to sit back and focus on "what is visible" rather than the "invisible"? I will not go into the quality of the writing of "The Sion Revelation" because this has been covered by other reviewers of this book. What I will say is that maybe we are reaching a point when dubbing everything as a conspiracy is a getting a little mundane?

Anyone who is interested in learning about the Priory of Sion and also about the Merovingian myth, will enjoy this easy to read book. It is well researched and based upon my own research, I agree with the conclusions presented in this well written book.

Picknett and Prince present information that poses questions about age-old
theories. The surprise ending is well worth the read and the bibliography
and references are extensive. Bettye Johnson, author, Secrets of the Magdalene Scrolls.

IF DO YOU REALLY ENJOY DA VINCI CODE, THIS HAS TO BE THE NEXT ONE YOU MUST TO READ. VERY HISTORICAL EVIDENCES WILL SHOWING YOU THE ANSWERS IN WHAT YOU ALREADY HAVE ABOUT SOME DETAILS IN THE DA VINCI CODE.
INGRID