|
The Rough Guide to The Da Vinci Code: History, Legends, Locations | 
 enlarge | Authors: Michael Haag, Veronica Haag, James Mcconnachie, Michael Von Haag
Publisher: Rough Guides
Category: Book
List Price: $8.99
Buy New: $0.04
You Save: $8.95 (100%)
New (23) Used (54) from $0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  10 reviews
Sales Rank: 1074427
Media: Paperback
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 256
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 6.2 x 4.5 x 0.6
ISBN: 1843535173
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN: 9781843535171
ASIN: 1843535173
Publication Date: December 20, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: remainder mark
|
| Editorial Reviews:
Book Description
Dan Brown's thriller The Da Vinci Code has created an extraordinary controversy, with its sub-plots of the sacred feminine in religion, the bloodline of Christ, the legend of the Holy Grail, and the role of sects like Opus Dei within the church. This Rough Guide explores and explains the context of the novel, including: - How the early Christian Church `edited' The Bible, and drew on earlier religions. - What art historians make of Leonardo Da Vinci's symbolism in "The Last Supper" and other works. - The true history of the Holy Grail, the Priory of Sion, and the debate on Mary Magdalene and the bloodline of Christ. - Location guides to Da Vinci Code sites in Paris, Rome, Jerusalem, New York, London and Edinburgh. - Reviews of Da Vinci Code sources and a glossary of everything from the Templars to the Fibonaccci Sequence. Whatever you think of Dan Brown's novel, this Rough Guide has the key to understanding its wider background.
|
| Customer Reviews: Read 5 more reviews...
Informative. September 4, 2006
THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE DA VINCI CODE is a little book that explores the history, legends, people, and places that are involved in Dan Brown's book THE DA VINCI CODE. The book is divided into five sections: Basic, Context, Locations, Author, and Glossary & Index. The basic section gives a general synopsis of the novel, detailing some of the major claims the novel makes. Context is an extended look at the actual history involved through the telling of THE DA VINCI CODE. Location examines the various places of setting in the novel. The author section gives a very, very brief biography about Dan Brown, discussed the books he has written, and lists and briefly discusses books that Dan Brown used for research as well as other books and websites of interest. The glossary & index contain a glossary defining key elements that a reader might need more explanation about as well as an index to highlighted items.
I know that when I read THE DA VINCI CODE I noticed several historical inaccuracies and fabrications and I was sure there were others. THE ROUGH GUIDE TO THE DA VINCI CODE helped me better understand the various inaccuracies, fabrications, and suppositions that the novel makes about history, people, and art by comparing them to the real events, people, and items. It is true that the authors don't list the sources for the information they include. However, this is a ROUGH GUIDE and that is how most if not all of the ROUGH GUIDES have been written. The book is compact, easy to read, and chock full of informational tidbits. In short, it does what a ROUGH GUIDE should do.
 The book for the film May 29, 2006
The Rough Guide to The Da Vinci Code not only explains Dan Brown's book, but it also explores the making of the film! Really interesting stuff, with a lot of inside information.
An Eye-Opener January 22, 2006
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
Reading this book has really been an eye-opener. It has made me understand how interesting the issues are behind The Da Vinci Code. Not in a hubla-bubla sort of way, but in a serious way. You cannot do better than this for getting started on the whole historical and religious route of discovery.
Creeps January 10, 2006
4 out of 4 found this review helpful
This Rough Guide to The Da Vinci Code is sound, articulate, well written, and altogether a brilliant investigation into the issues surrounding Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code. Anyone who is curious and wants to be informed, and wants to make use of the extensive further reading and website lists, will welcome this book. But a lot of creeps will not like it because it tells the truth.
 Not what it claims to be... September 24, 2005
4 out of 15 found this review helpful
The publication and subsequent widespread popularity of "The Da Vinci Code" has led to a host of books attempting to delve further into the subject matter and separate fact from fiction. The authors and producers of these books usually fall into two categories: those of the Christian faith that feel threatened and try to discredit everything Dan Brown presents in his novel; and those who wholeheartedly agree with Mr. Brown and seek to reinforce the subject matter of his novel. Additionally, in my personal opinion, both of these camps also seem to be motivated by a a desire to capitalize on the popularity of "The Da Vinci Code" for profitable gain. While these types of exploratory 'history' books (and I use that term very loosely in this case) no doubt succeed in clearing a decent profit margin they fail miserably as researched historical treatises on the subject matter of "The Da Vinci Code".
Both, "The Rough Guide To The Da Vinci Code" and "Da Vinci Code Decoded" purport to be properly researched exploratory works with the former taking the side of discrediting much of Mr. Brown's novel and the latter supporting much of it. However, what the astute reader will notice is that neither makes its case very well and both are guilty of the same gross error, namely not presenting any tangible historical reference to accompany the myriad of 'facts' (I use this term quite loosely as well) presented. By this I mean, whenever they present any information, whether it opposes or supports Mr. Brown, there is no specific reference as to where that information came from. As far as the reader knows, the author could be entirely fabricating the information themselves as there is no footnote and corresponding reference for the reader to check to ensure the author is not just asserting their own opinions as 'facts'. While that type of writing is entirely acceptable in a fictional novel such as "The Da Vinici Code", it is most unacceptable in non-fictional writing where the claim is made that the book presents researched historical facts. If the books are so well researched, where are the footnotes and references that will allow the reader to double check the facts themselves? These books are in essence 'he said / she said" publications where it is the word of the author against the word of Dan Brown, and as such are of no use in the realm of legitimate historical study.
Please do not be fooled by the authoritative style with which these books are written, as they are essentially just someone's opinion and should not be taken as fact. I would recommend the curious reader who desires to learn more about the subject matter of "The Da Vinici Code" to seek out and read academic historical texts for further information, but at the same time I would suggest taking that with a grain of salt as well. Historical facts have a tendency to become distorted and manipulated over the years to serve personal and national agendas. If you don't believe it is in human nature to manipulate historical accounts, consider this real world example: the Japanese government as of this day does not teach Japanese students about the atrocities and war crimes that Japan committed historically in Asia (atrocities and war crimes that are well documented by the rest of the international community). The details have been stricken, literally, from Japanese school history books. This is even more important when we remember that Japan actually lost World War II and yet they are still engaging in this type of activity. Imagine if they had won...furthermore, imagine if the Germans had won: would the attempted genocide of the Jews even be spoken of today much less remembered in a couple hundred years?
These are the types of things one must consider when studying history. So, if you want to learn more about the Da Vinci code, ignore "The Rough Guide To The Da Vinci Code" and "Da Vinci Code Decoded", do your own research, keep an open mind, and decide on your own what seems most likely from a logical standpoint.
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
