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    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons, the Yakuza, Skull and Bones, and the World's Most Notorious Secret Organizations
    Unavailable
    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons, the Yakuza, Skull and Bones, and the World's Most Notorious Secret Organizations
    Unavailable
    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons, the Yakuza, Skull and Bones, and the World's Most Notorious Secret Organizations
    Ebook408 pages7 hours

    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons, the Yakuza, Skull and Bones, and the World's Most Notorious Secret Organizations

    By John Lawrence Reynolds

    3.5/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    An inside look at the secret societies that survive and thrive among us “with more twists and turns than The Da Vinci Code” (Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award–winning author of Hominids).
     
    Secret societies generate fear, suspicion, and—above all—fascination. To many, their secrecy suggests sacrilege, crime, and conspiracy. Their loyalties are often accused of undermining governments and tipping the scales of justice. The Freemasons, for example, hold more seats of power in the US government than any other organization. No fewer than sixteen presidents have declared their Masonic affiliation, and there may have been more. Secret societies have infiltrated pop culture as well. Celebrity members of Kabbalah include Madonna, Demi Moore, and Elizabeth Taylor, among others.
     
    From the Mafia and the Yakuza to the Priory of Sion, Skull and Bones, and the Templars, Reynolds offers an illuminating exploration of the stories—both confirmed and fabricated—that surround these societies. He also provides detailed information on their origins, initiations, rituals, and secret signs. Dispelling myths and providing gripping revelations—such as a direct historical link between the Assassins of the Middle Ages and today’s Al Qaeda—Secret Societies gives us a smart, surprising look at the best known and least understood covert organizations.
     
    “A page-turner.” —Robert J. Sawyer
     
    “This offers far more depth and detail than most . . . Excellent.” —Midwest Review of Books
     
    “A must-read . . . Written with exceptional skill and competence.” —Ian Markham, dean of Hartford Seminary

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherOpen Road Integrated Media
    Release dateSep 1, 2011
    ISBN9781628721607
    Unavailable
    Secret Societies: Inside the Freemasons, the Yakuza, Skull and Bones, and the World's Most Notorious Secret Organizations
    Author

    John Lawrence Reynolds

    John Lawrence Reynolds is the author of more than two dozen works of fiction and non-fiction. He has previously written six mystery novels—most recently, Beach Strip—and is a two-time winner of the Arthur Ellis Award (for The Man Who Murdered God and Gypsy Sins). His many non-fiction books include Leaving Home, Free Rider (winner of the National Business Book Award), The Naked Investor and Bubbles, Bankers & Bailouts. Shadow People, his bestselling book on secret societies, has been published in sixteen countries. A former president of the Crime Writers of Canada, he lives in Burlington, Ontario. Visit him online at johnlawrencereynolds.com.

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    Reviews for Secret Societies

    3.5/5

    19 ratings2 reviews

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    • 4/5
      Very informative and level handed
    • 4/5
      For a non-fiction, academic facsimile, skeptic's tract, remarkably readable. Mostly the author is pretty good at not pointing fingers and saying "this is evil". There is a bibliography of sorts at the end, not what I've seen before and not particularly extensive, but he isn't making any new arguments here; it's more an overview of the public histories of various cultures. Fun read.

      1 person found this helpful