The Real History behind the Da Vinci Code by Sharan Newman

Product Details

Synopsis

Millions have been enthralled by The Da Vinci Code's fascinating historical speculations-and the blockbuster novel's audience has also made bestsellers of several books offering to separate the facts from the fiction. This comprehensive, encyclopedic volume is written by an acclaimed medievalist-and takes an objective, history-based approach to the phenomenon and the questions it has raised.

The Real History Behind the Da Vinci Code gives easy-to-find, clear answers about the people, places, and events that play roles in Dan Brown's tantalizing thriller in a lively, encyclopedic format-shedding new light on some of the deepest mysteries of the Dark Ages.

Further, the author has visited all of the sites in France and England which are settings in The Da Vinci Code, offering unprecedented insight into these locations--for armchair travellers, or for fans who wish to go and visit these sites themselves.

Library Journal

Dan Brown's mystery thriller The Da Vinci Code plays fast and loose with history, posing puzzling riddles while challenging beliefs in the canon of Scripture, the Church, and Christianity. Newman (The Witch in the Well), a medievalist and award-winning novelist, has taken up the challenge to consider what the book suggests and separate legend from fact. Did Da Vinci paint Mary Magdalene in The Last Supper and omit the apostle John? Was Mary also identified as the wife of Jesus and a prostitute in the Nag Hammadi text of the Gospel of Phillip? What is the history of the Templars? Are there hidden meanings in Da Vinci's Mona Lisa and his drawing Vitruvian Man? Newman has arranged her discussion of the people, places, and events of The Da Vinci Code in an encyclopedic format, creating a books that is both accessible and fun to read. Recommended for all libraries.-George Westerlund, Palmyra, VA Copyright 2005 Reed Business Information.

Biography

Sharan Newman is a longtime member of the Medieval Academy, has served on the advisory board for the Medieval Association of the Pacific, and is a Ph.D. candidate at UC Santa Barbara. Newman's medieval French mysteries have garnered Macavity, Agatha, and Anthony Award nominations, and she has won the Herodotus Award for Best Historical History.