Talisman : Sacred Cities, Secret Faith Hardcover – January 1, 2004

Book in great shape. Got here quick. Great price.Thanks!

Not much that's really new, but nonetheless a good tracing of the Illuminati trail.

Great book but new edition with updated material has been published as "The Master Game"  The Master Game: Unmasking The Secret Rulers Of The World

Not as good as GH's previous books.

Excellent reference work for those studying religious history.

Fascinating reading!

Graham Hancock and Robert Bauval have produced a number of books, separately and together, on various subjects of esoteric interest, primarily dealing with the possibility of a hitherto unknown civilization having existed before the last Ice Age. These books are usually diverting and often thought provoking, as is Talisman, even when the reader fails to be convinced of the overall thesis of the authors.Talisman supposedly describes the centuries old history of a secret faith which has surfaced time and again in human history. The sections which deal with the early Christian gnostics and the Cathars are very well done and provide some intriguing information about the parallels between those groups of which I had not previously known. I also found the segments dealing with the Templars and their links to the Freemasons intriguing, as will other readers who have enjoyed such books as Holy Blood, Holy Grail, The Messianic Legacy, and others of that ilk.Where I found my interest and credulity flagging were the sections dealing with the numerous references to Ancient Egyptian religion to be found among the French Revolutionaries and in the supposed Masonic symbolism to be found in cities like Washington and Paris. Egyptian references during the French Revolution make sense when you remember that the Catholic Church was considered an arm of the French monarchy, and that therefore anti-monarchists would also be anti-Church and seek to replace it with symbols of other faiths. Also it is well known that Freemasons were actively involved in the Enlightenment Period and that many early US leaders were (and continue to be in the present era) Masons. However, I tend to be skeptical of maps detailing straight lines linking different sites. (It has always been my observation that if you draw lines long enough and in enough directions you can link up just about anything you want to.)I was also somewhat puzzled by the references to 9/11 that are tagged on at the end of the book. While Al Qaeda members certainly appear to be gullible enough to swallow the idea of a huge Jewish/Masonic conspiracy against them, I don't believe that Osama bin Laden chose to destroy the World Trade Center because the towers had Masonic significance!All in all I can say that this is an entertaining book which will provide a lot of interesting information about Gnosticism, Catharism, and other assorted heresies and the Catholic Church's responses to them, but unfortunately mixed in with this material is a lot of poorly sorted out and ultimately irrelevant data.

It is interesting but is dragged out and difficult to follow the logic. It ends without a clear conclusion. Thanks.

1e 27MAY2004 pp.562. The second edition  The Master Game  and  also here  has the same number of chapters but twice the number of coloured plates.The plates are not referenced in the text so it is all guess work. I only read it for Bauval not Hancock and also to see if there was any evidence that the Free Masons, the Vatican or the Knights of Malta are major decision makers following current theories on US politics iin circulation. The authors do not investigate this area. Bauval is better in detecting the megalithic alignment with Orion's Belt now generally accepted amongst archaeologists.It covers the subversion of Christianity by the Roman Universal (Catholic) Church and how it fought off all the revisionists and other competition. The Masons are one of the survivors. The authors argue that the American and French revolutions were heavily influenced by the Masons and are still influencing modern history. Roosevelt was the 32nd US president and a 32nd degree Mason. Truman was the 33rd president and a 33rd degree Mason. Both these degrees are intensely Templar which are committed to defend the Temple Mount in Jerusalem. The other degrees are also intensely Judaic.Consequently US policy was pro Zionist. They then claim Osama bin Ladin's 1998 declaration of Jihad against Jews and Crusaders, master minded the bombing of 2 World Trade Center towers representing the Jachim and Boas, the two pillars which guard the entrances of Masonic temples.Most research debunks this theory of PENTTBOM ( Pentagon and Twin Towers Bombing) as the FBI call the 9th Sept 2001 events. This was on the exact 60th anniversary of the ground cutting ceremony of the Pentagon on 9th Sept 1941.If Osama was involved it was with a false flag operation using pre-prepared demolition charges at the Pentagon and the 3 W.T.C..towers even used on one tower where no aircraft hit it. Osama may be yet another patsy like McVeigh at Oklahoma and Oswald at Dallas. The Master Gamealso here

Keep up the good work and the prices low.

Nice book

Bauval leads us to places virtually unknown and entices us with secrets once known only to the elite. This was a truly enlightening piece of literature.

this book opens up importent questions about the public perceptions of the past