The Freemasons - Softcover

Ridley, Jasper

3.2

847 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1841192384 ISBN 13: 9781841192383

Publisher: Robinson, 2000

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To the layman, the Freemasons are a mysterious brotherhood. Who are they and why are they such a contradiction?
In this book Jasper Ridley attempts to separate myth from truth. He follows the development of Freemasonry from the working masons of the Middle Ages to the 'gentlemen masons' of the 18th century; examines the part played by the Freemasons in the American Revolution of 1776 and the creation of the United States; the significance of Mozart's opera The Magic Flute and the responsibility of the Freemasons for the French Revolution; examines the persecution of the Freemasons by Hitler; the difficulties which the Freemasons have encountered in Japan and in other parts of the world and their 250-year war with the Catholic Church; the effect of their secrecy and their ceremonies on their public image; and their attitude towards women. He compares British Freemasonry with the revolutionary left-wing Freemasons of France, Italy and Latin America. Finally, he examines the position of the Freemasons in British society today and whether they will be able to adapt to the 21st century.

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Review:

This is a detailed and wide-ranging history of Freemasonry that resolutely refuses to sensationalise its subject. Not a Freemason himself, Ridley nonetheless treats his subject with respect and even admiration; there are none of the more lurid revelations of a book like Stephen Knight's The Brotherhood. Ridley's freemasons are law-abiding and devoted to charitable work. There are a few "bad eggs in the masonic basket" of course but every organisation has that; and the wilder claims sometimes levelled against freemasonry are brushed aside. Was Mozart, a mason himself, murdered by the freemasons because he exposed their secret rituals in The Magic Flute? Ridley says not: "this is one of the most ridiculous stories that the anti-masons have invented. No masonic secrets are revealed in The Magic Flute; but the beneficial effects of a mysterious cult were emphasised, as the Freemasons wished." Was New Yorker William Morgan murdered by masons in 1826 to prevent him from revealing these same secrets? Probably, but "this is the only case in the history of Freemasonry in many countries of the world in which suc ha thing has occurred" and, moreover, the masons concerned acted as they did "not because they were Freemasons but because of the social surroundings in which they lived." Did Edward VII, a Grand Master of the Freemasons, look utterly ridiculous in his masonic apron and regalia? Well, you can judge for yourself because the book carries a full page photo of the monarch and mason on the back cover. Overall this is an elegantly written and informative book, even if it does sacrifice a certain raciness in order to push home its sensible points. --Adam Roberts

Book Description:

First paperback publication of a highly acclaimed portrait of freemasonry

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