When I sat down to read The Da Vinci Code, the best decision I made was to have The Da Vinci Codebreaker right beside me. This was an invaluable resource that should interest anyone curious about the facts behind the best selling novel and blockbuster movie.
The book by James Garlow (coauthor of New York Times bestselling Cracking Da Vinci’s Code) with Timothy Paul Jones and April Williams alllows anyone to become an instant expert on virtually every topic raised by Dan Brown’s book.
The book is set-up as a dictionary of terms mentioned in the novel and others connected to issues within the story. From Abnes, Richard (Author of The Truth Behind the Da Vinci Code) to zodiac, the (A development of the ancient Babylonian practice of astrology…), Codebreaker outlines all the facts and allows the reader to see the truth behind the hype.
The book has detailed charts on the New Testament canon compared to other writings, maps of Paris illustrating Brown’s bad sense of direction, and extended entries on Leonardo and how the novel mischaracterized him and his paintings.
Virtually every question I had as I read through The Da Vinci Code was answered by Codebreaker. As an example, DVC character Teabing states that “an astounding five million women” were burned at the stake during the Inquistion. Now, any death was a tragedy, but the actual number is closer to 50,000. There were approximately 110,000 witch trials with less than 50 percent ending in execution, less than that in burnings. Each of those deaths was and is unexcuseable, but to report the number as 100 times the actual fact is unacceptable.
Whether you believe anything the novel says or not, this is a resource that will greatly enhance your understanding of history, art, Christianity and the conspiracies behind the novel. You can buy this tremendous information source directly from the publisher for only $7.99.
If it sounds like I am doing a commerical for the book – I am. This was probably the most informative book I have read in a long time and a surprisingly easy read for a dictionary format. After I finished reading DVC, I went back and read straight through Codebreaker to make sure I didn’t miss any important words or facts.
Thanks to Bethany House Publishers and Active Christian Media for providing me with the book.