The Grail: A Secret History

by John Matthews

What is the Grail? Is it a stone? Is it a chalice? Or is it something even more powerful—an enduring idea that has captured humanity's imagination across the centuries? Fictional accounts of the Grail have topped best-seller lists over the years, The Da Vinci Code being only the most recent among them. But the truth about the Grail—where truth can be brought to light—is even more electrifying than the most exciting novel ever written. This informative and beautifully illustrated book recounts the Grail's story, from its early appearances in ancient myths to its many references in historical documents, literature, and the popular entertainment of today. Grail scholar John Matthews explores many previously unknown facets of the Grail's history. He brings to light the earliest accounts of the Grail, as they were originally inscribed in Greek, Vedic and Celtic myths. Then probing still more deeply into the story of the Grail, he—

Genres: Arthurian

176 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 2005

About the author

John Matthews is an historian, folklorist and author. He has been a full time writer since 1980 and has produced over ninety books on the Arthurian Legends and Grail Studies, as well as short stories and a volume of poetry. He has devoted much of the past thirty years to the study of Arthurian Traditions and myth in general. His best known and most widely read works are ‘Pirates’ (Carlton/Atheneum), No 1 children’s book on the New York Times Review best-seller list for 22 weeks in 2006, ‘The Grail, Quest for Eternal Life’ (Thames & Hudson, 1981) ‘The Encyclopaedia of Celtic Wisdom’ (Element, 1994) and ‘The Winter Solstice’ (Quest Books, 1999) which won the Benjamin Franklin Award for that year. His book ‘Celtic Warrior Chiefs’ was a New York Public Library recommended title for young people.

Reviews

[SA · Rating 5 out of 5]

Though Arthuriana was an early love, I never really gave much thought to the Grail conceptually; I sort of knew it had some improbable connection to the story of Christ, and of course made for an excellent McGuffin for the Round Table knights to pursue, but it was far from the most interesting part of the whole Arthurian cycle for me.

I learned so much from this book, which is honestly not a very long or in-depth book on the subject. Matthews, of course, is a significant favorite of mine, so anything he or his partner Caitlin Matthews write is either on my shelf or waiting to be purchased. He does excellent work here, on a subject of his particular scholarly passion. The design of the book is great, lending itself to many excellent images and illustrations, and the thick, glossy paper makes it a pleasure to read. Even designed as a coffee-table book there's still so much fine scholarship here.

And to be honest, it's kind of like reading a really detailed history of a fandom -- starting from the original source material, though all the different iterations and AUs and re-imaginings. The ways in which the Grail was personal for an author or fan and how it changed because of that. Though of course there were no direct comparisons to contemporary fandom, it really does engage with that concept very naturally, and so I got an extra layer of entertainment from mentally comparing the many centuries of Grail fandom to, say, Harry Potter fandom. Or Star Trek.

[Pedro Pascoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

A brief, almost cursory glance at Grail Lore over the centuries, from Proto-Grail myths, through to present times. A book grocer pick-up that jumped the queue and reminded me that there are still a number of Grail and Arthurian books in my collection that need some attention.
Nice pictures, an odd reference system citing books but not page numbers and something of a random order to the reference system. Mention is given to the movie that probably started my fascination with the Arthurian cycle, Boorman's Excalibur.
A decent in-between read before diving back in to the serious stuff.

[Jbondandrews · Rating 3 out of 5]

It started off interesting but too little was said.

[Foggygirl · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was an interesting read that traces the evoluion of the grail from pre-historic times to the present day. I recommend it for anyone interested in reading a broad overview of the history of the grail from different cultures and historical eras.

[Angelo Mifsud · Rating 4 out of 5]

A very in depth account of the Grail and its secret history. The meaning and purpose of the mysterious relic is important for the reader to give them that base of understanding and a base to begin from. It is comprehensive and well written.

[Valerie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I found this book on Tuesday and stayed up till midnight with it. Ooooooh!