The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World (Hardback)

'The Craft is a superb book that often reads like an adventure novel. It's informative, fascinating and often very funny. The depth of research is awe-inspiring, but what really makes this book is the author's visceral understanding of what constitutes a good story.' - The Times

'[John Dickie] takes on this sensational subject with a wry turn of phrase and the cool judgment of a fine historian... I enjoyed this book enormously. Dickie's gaze is both wide and penetrating. He makes a persuasive case for masonry's historic importance.' - Dominic Sandbrook, The Sunday Times

'The Craft is a shadow history of modernity. Though more sober than most lodge meetings, it is, like its subject, ingenious and frequently bizarre... The Craft is well-crafted and sensible, making good use of English archives which have only recently been opened.' - Spectator

'This eye-opening account... is an epic, continent-spanning story that reaches right into the present.' - History Revealed 

'Dickie's book acts as a soothing balm for these irritated, irritating and irritable times... startling... distinctly refreshing... astonishing... Dickie laces his text with enough bizarre characters to pull the reader through, and his no-nonsense tone is a tonic.' - Standpoint magazine 

'A work that is sweeping, synthetic, finely crafted and freshly conceived.' - Literary Review 

'This relaxed and jaunty tone pervades The Craft, which is written from an outsider's perspective without giving credence to the more lurid conspiracy theories that have been attached to Freemasonry over the centuries.' *- Times Literary Supplement 

'The Craft offers the reader a highly readable survey of Freemasonry from its origins in Scotland to its expression across the globe; its manifold rites, degrees, and personalities - quite an achievement! [...] For the general and specialist reader alike, a concise and scholarly account.' - Fortean Times