Interesting Genealogy - Rated 
I read this book several years ago with my main interest 'genealogy' in mind. An old friend of mine was a jewish lady, who taught me a lot about Jewish religion and Jewish history. I have no religious beliefs and could never make sense of the bible, even as a child. Laurence Gardner has helped make some sense of history and religious history over the past 2000 years and beyond. I don't think anyone has all the answers, but that is human nature, not everyone can agree on everything all of the time. Royal families throughout history have the most information written and documented about their own family history. Religion itself is neither fact or fiction, it's a combination of both. The historical records past down through the ages are like chinese whispers, they get distorted and change to suit the times, we still do it today. I thoroughly enjoyed this book it answered some questions I'd always wondered about. It is heavy reading but it covers a lot of history in a small space. My advice, if it makes sense, it's probably true...
Complete Tosh - Rated 
Laurence Gardner's Bloodline of the Holy Grail relies heavily upon Barbara Thiering's "Jesus the Man". In fact it seems that nearly every other reference is taken from Thiering's book. Whilst reading this I tried hard not to die of laughter. It is probably the most unscholarly book I've read. Like Thiering, Gardner makes wild claims but fails to back them up, either as an argument or from sources, original or otherwise. Countless of times I looked at the (copious) notes at the back, but they rarely lead to sources or "proof" of any sort, just further explanation of what has just been said in the main text. When you look at the genealogies at the back it's clear we're entering fantasy-land. For example we have a Marius of Siluria as a grandson of Emperor Claudius, leading onto descent to Helena and Constantine. Best of all is the listing of Thomas the Apostle as a son of Herod the Great under the name of Philip. It's all in there - Knights Templar, Freemasonry, Akhenaten/Moses connection, Philosopher's Stone etc. Truly ludicrous and, unintentionally, rather funny.
Stay well clear.
old tosh - Rated
Gardner purports to be a distinguished Knight of an old esoteric order, Chevalier Labhran de St Germain, with the implication that he is in a position to gain access to manuscripts that are hidden from everyone else. On the face of it seem credible enough, until you realise he is creating a history that complies with his own beliefs and political views, and his ancient manuscripts are all th other popular books on the subject.
Gardner's connections - Rated 
Although I am reviewing the paperbook- I purchased the old hardback around the time of it's release as I was highly interested in the subject at that time. Gardner introduces us to subjects already mentioned in prior books (which many of you will have read) and continues to discuss the usual anomalies in history etc such as the possible blood line from Jesus, an alternative history of Scotland and some interesting features in historic art. The books is an easy read like the Holy Blood, Holy Grail and The Templar revelation and will introduce the reader to the subjects now made popular by the book the Da Vinci Code.
However, it would be more appreciated if Gardner could write as much about his OWN connection to the secret groups and why he holds up this 'puppet' version of the story which contains fundamental misunderstoods. Other books have covered this subject in a more riveting manner coming to more solid conclusions. Commyns Beaumont and Barry Dunford wrote well on the subject of Scotland (though I cannot vouch for their current stance on the subject) and R.Henry (as I have cited in reviews of other books) covers the vast scope of data in a four volume set called 'Theatre Earth- Who Pulls the Strings?' which covers the role that other subjects such as Anthroposophy, Scientology and even FIFA have played in the ongoing battle for knowledge. If your a beginner this book will give you some knowledge about world events- though be sceptical about this one more that the others due to the authors connections.
Yet again Gardner makes history up - Rated
Gardner in this book makes history up yet again. Far from being well-researched as some have claimed, here he simply fills in gaps with fable as if it were true history. There is no evidence for 99% of what he says. He uses no proper historical detective techniques, instead relying on high class marketing and peoples interest in "what is hidden" from our eyes to sell books. As with all Gardners books we are left wondering if what he claims is true and when we do our own research we find he has built his house on sand. Shame, because there are thousands of researchers out there who never get heard. Take Philip Gardiner, I have just read his galley proof for The Serpent Grail and found that it simply cannot be faulted. It answers everything and what is amazing is that the answer was so simple that it was right before our eyes the whole time. Laurence Gardner on the other hand writes excellent fiction.
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