Secrets of The Lost Symbol: The Unauthorized Guide to the Mysteries Behind The Da Vinci Code Sequel

By Daniel Burstein and Arne de Keijzer

“If anyone can divine the contents of The Lost Symbol, it’s Dan Burstein.”
 —New York magazine

With Secrets of the Lost Symbol, co-authors Dan Burstein and Arne de Keijzer delve into the real history, science, and hidden meanings behind Dan Brown’s latest blockbuster novel, The Lost Symbol. As they have done previously with their extraordinary New York Times bestsellers Secrets of the Code and Secrets of Angels & Demons, Burstein and de Keijzer explore the themes, conspiracies, mythologies, codes, encrypted signs, and alternate histories—from the birth of Knights Templar to the present day—popularized by the acclaimed creator of The Da Vinci Code, giving them fresh and fascinating relevance while separating truth from fantasy.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Dec 1, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061986253

Reviews for Secrets of The Lost Symbol

[PrathameshPandhare · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

fictional

[zhukora · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I'd half hoped for a book featuring relevant historical background on some of the assertions made in The DaVinci Code, and I was encouraged by Burstein's introduction, as it sounded like this was what he was trying to achieve in writing Secrets of the Code. But it seems Burstein may not have had the requisite training or motivation to carry off such a moderately ambitious project, as his research seems to have consisted mainly of reading everything he could lay hands on about the subject without regard to whether it was written by crackpots or scholars, and his authorship seems to have consisted mainly of compiling excerpts "exploring" different "perspectives" about the possible historical basis of the persona of Mary Magdalene, et al., with minimal added conceptual synthesis or analysis (which is, I feel, a problem in itself, though I cannot review text which doesn't exist).It's hard to lay blame on Burstein himself for the many strange, erroneous claims made by the authors he included (such as the statement by Lynn Picknett that the name of ancient Egypt, KMT, was a reference to the racial phenotype of its people rather than the fertility of its land), but he cannot be completely blameless as it's mainly due to his freewheeling standards for vetting sources that the historical connection of his text is tenuous at best.

[dragonasbreath · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A bit dry, but interesting read. Unlike Holy Blood, it tends to be a bit more negative and debunking of the mytholgys presented here.

[moomin_mama · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

Reads more like a chapter sampler - some good articles but hard going cover-to-cover. Useful as a guide for further reading.