The Brotherhood

by Stephen Knight

A supposed expose of the ancient free and accepted rite of freemasonry. Very unpopular book with most freemasons, very popular with conspiracy theorists, and just plain old "interesting" to the neutral. A bestseller.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Conspiracy Theories, Politics, Cults, Religion

Paperback

First published January 1, 1984

About the author

Stephen Knight was born in Hainault, Essex in 1951. He left school at sixteen to pursue a career as a journalist. He was a reporter on several weekly London papers and by age 20 had become chief reporter of one of them. In 1973, Knight met a man who claimed to know the truth behind the Jack the Ripper murders. Knight investigated the case, obtaining access to previously closed files of the Home Office and Scotland Yard. This led to his first book, the bestselling nonfiction work Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution. His first and only novel, Requiem at Rogano, appeared in 1979 to generally positive reviews, and a further nonfiction work, The Brotherhood, purporting to expose the secrets of the Freemasons, appeared in 1984.

In 1977, Knight began to suffer from epileptic seizures, and in 1980 he agreed to take part in a BBC documentary on epilepsy after seeing an advertisement in the newspaper. As part of the television program, a brain scan was taken, which revealed a brain tumor. Though surgeons removed the tumor, it recurred four years later, and Knight died in 1985 at age 33.

Reviews

[Charbel · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you wanted to know more about Freemasonry, then this is the book to read. This book is exquisitely written and it's well researched. Although it might overwhelm the reader with information and stories concerning Freemasons, The Brotherhood is extremely accurate not to mention rich in minute details.

[Shea Ottey · Rating 2 out of 5]

Certainly outdated and a slightly misleading title. Not so much the inner workings of Freemasonry but the effect being a Mason can have in the institutions they're involved in. He describes it's ubiquity but focuses on the UK and more specifically on law enforcement and the judicial system. I did learn a lot having no prior knowledge of Freemasonry. It was an interesting read but perhaps not what I was expecting.

[عاطفه ابراهیمی · Rating 4 out of 5]

اگه درست باشه اطلاعات کتاب یه مرجع خیلی خوب برای ماسون شناسی ِ هست!

[Maureen · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book focusses largely on the influence of Freemasonry in the UK police, judiciary, law, church and government. It is a cautionary tale that what we see on the surface can be very different to the currents playing out beneath.
I have been tossing around the thought that the press hasn't yet (to my knowledge anyway) pondered the question of whether King Charles will join/has joined the Masons. The Queen's father was a 'devout' member, her husband apparently a half-hearted one, her cousin the Duke of Kent is the current Grand Master in the UK and the Queen herself was the Grand Patroness (strange in an all male organisation), this patronage now falling to Charles. However Lord Mountbatten, Charles' favourite uncle, was very much against The Brotherhood, so perhaps that will influence him. The Church of England, of which Charles is now titular head, has been a bastion of Freemasonry for the last 250 plus years, so that's a pull in the direction of his joining. Apparently according to Stephen Knight, in the 1950s there were only half a dozen Church of England bishops out of over a hundred in the UK who were not Masons and they banned books exposing or critical of Freemasonry from sale in C. of E. bookshops. I await the Guardian filling us in on Charles' intentions when they get around to it.

[Arthur B · Rating 3 out of 5]

Fairly shaky on some of the research, and weak when it is trying to argue that Freemasonry is corrupt as an institution; that said, Knight ends up on somewhat more solid ground when arguing that Freemasonry's setup makes it too easy for people of bad intent to exploit it in a manner which is not intended or endorsed by other Masons, but nonetheless can all too easily happen. Full review: https://fakegeekboy.wordpress.com/201...

[Cody · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book is primarily about the influence of freemasonry on law enforcement and the judicial system in the UK, and partly about the same influence on church and religion. There are some good bits of info in this book, but they are scattered, and the title is dissonant with the material.

[Lee · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not that explosive. The history of how Freemasons began in the first chapter and the last chapter about a possible KGB connection are the best. The rest of the book seems like a list of possible members and possible advantages being a Mason has given them.

[Gareth Williams · Rating 2 out of 5]

Extremely bias account of the institution.
In my opinion the author has only researched the matter so as to show the meantime a bad light

[Jaiden R · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good read but a little hard to get through, very specific and not what I was anticipating but not bad

[Ryan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maybe my 2 stars were unfair but I didn't realize the book would be mostly about the uk Freemasons. It was good and very interesting at the beginning. It really drug through at times in the middle drawing out events probably more than it needed to. I wanted an inside look at freemasonry which I have always been interested in (just knowing not joining). Brotherhood was more of a look at the advantages and disadvantages of being a mason in the world.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Just re-read this old book on my shelves. It's rather dull in writing style, particularly as the author goes out of his way not to appear biassed. Nonetheless it does make clear that masonary is incompatible with most major religions, has been horribly misused and is not appropriate for anyone who holds public office.

[George · Rating 1 out of 5]

Complete crap.

[Keith Bowden · Rating 3 out of 5]

This ties in with Knight's conspiracy theory of Jack the Ripper, as outlined in Jack the Ripper: The Final Solution

[John Burchfield · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great book. My father loaned this to me several years ago. Great read with interesting insights to the world of the Freemason.

[M.J. Johnson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent. I knew nothing about Freemasonry before. This book is of course now out of date - but still worth reading.

[Ietrio · Rating 2 out of 5]

Cute

[Pat · Rating 2 out of 5]

Laborious read about the historical effect of Freemasons on Brittan.

[Kamranaboalhasani]

good

[Larry Schwartz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Is it true? I couldn't possibly comment.