The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven | 
| Author: James Wasserman
Publisher: Destiny Books
Category: Book
List Price: $16.95
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Avg. Customer Rating:  19 reviews
Sales Rank: 115784
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1st
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 320
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1.1
Dimensions (in): 8.8 x 6 x 0.9
ISBN: 089281859X
Dewey Decimal Number: 271.7913
EAN: 9780892818594
ASIN: 089281859X
Publication Date: May 15, 2001
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Product Description
• An examination of the interactions of the Christian Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins, and of the profound changes in Western society that resulted.
• Restores the reputation of the secret Muslim order of the Assassins, disparaged as the world's first terrorist group.
• Dispels many myths about the Knights Templar and provides the most incisive portrait of them to date.
A thousand years ago Christian battled Muslim for possession of a strip of land upon which both their religions were founded. These Crusades changed the course of Western history, but less known is the fact that they also were the meeting ground for two legendary secret societies: The Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins.
In The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven, occult scholar and secret society member James Wasserman provides compelling evidence that the interaction of the Knights Templar and the Assassins in the Holy Land transformed the Templars from the Pope's private army into a true occult society, from which they would sow the seeds of the Renaissance and the Western Mystery Tradition. Both orders were destroyed as heretical some seven hundred years ago, but Templar survivors are believed to have carried the secret teachings of the East into an occult underground, from which sprang both Rosicrucianism and Masonry. Assassin survivors, known as Nizari Ismailis, flourish to this day under the spiritual leadership of the Aga Khan. Wasserman strips the myths from both groups and penetrates to the heart of their enlightened beliefs and rigorous practices, delivering the most probing picture yet of these holy warriors.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 14 more reviews...
 A well researched compilation of other books with an interesting resulting theory. May 1, 2007
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
This book is a very good broad historical account of the templars and the assassins. It is an overview of each of the secretive orders and the effects that each had on the times in which they existed; the crusades. Wasserman then draws from these two societies to create his theory of the creation of secularism and the rise of occult groups present today.
Wasserman is a member of an occult group, "Ordo Templi Orientis", founder of one of their "lodges", and a follower of Aleister Crowley. I make note of this because the genesis of this book was to prove the point in time at which occultism began. Wasserman argues that the Templars and the Assassins at some point cross-pollinated to create a new sect of religious thinking; what Mr. Wasserman labels as "esoteric truth" that resulted in the "development of the Western Mysteries", his personal area of religious or secular belief.
That being said, the book is a very good primer for any beginner on the subject of Templars, Assassins or the time of the Crusades. A definite must read for anyone that is beginning their journey in to the past of the warriors of the crusades and the political and religious backdrop that created their fates.
If you are a student of the subject or a history junkie (as I am), this may be a bit sophomoric and overly concise. That is to say that Mr. Wasserman did do a great job of researching many important works regarding the 2 groups but it is all referenced from other works and only his final thesis (that the combination of eastern and western religions created modern occultism) is original; his bibliography is impressive and anyone that wants to truly understand in depth history of this time would be well served by reading the majority of the books in the bibliography.
But, in the end, if you are looking for new information, this is not the book for you. However, if you are searching for new theories, especially those which are not mainstream (specifically those related to occultism) this book would be a good place to get theories based on facts.
I did enjoy reading the book as I have read too many studies on the groups, especially the Templars , and this places everything in a slightly different light. The final section of the book is a summation of Mr. Wasserman's opinions, his thesis, regarding the interaction of the two groups and the resulting age of enlightenment that produced his religious order as well as many others.
Do yourself a favor and check the bibliography and grab some of those books. Mr. Wasserman does reference these books and acknowledges the importance of the works as his sources for his information.
Again, if you are new to the subject, jump on in and enjoy; and then move on to the meat and potatoes of the subject matter. But be wary of the final section as it is more propaganda than fact, more personal theory than thesis.
If you are a Templar or Assassin history junkie (as I am), you can probably skip this and move on to another study of the groups, the time period, or the geography of the crusades and the forces that led to the ongoing war between islam and christianity.
So, to sum up: A good read, well researched and informative for anyone who is new to the topic; be cautious with the final section where many conclusions are drawn based on Mr. Wasserman's faith in his occultist beliefs.
Simplisitic Research October 24, 2005
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
My interest in Wasserman's book stemmed from the background research I did for the first English translation of ALAMUT by Vladimir Bartol -- an Eastern European novel based on the life and legend of Hasan ibn Sabbah, the original "assassin."
I can't speak on behalf of Wasserman's "Templars" research, but if his "assassins" research is indicative, I'd suggest that this book offers nothing new in the way of scholarship. A quick look at his "assassin" sources reveals that he was exclusive in his use of secondary sources, most of them dating from 1955 and later, including works by Farhad Daftary, Bernard Lewis, and Marshal Hodgson. For the most part, Wasserman stays clear of the myths surrounding the assassins, and in a few cases debunks them, but if you have read any of the writers Wasserman relied on for his research, chances are you won't find much new here.
 Very Nice Overview February 8, 2005
7 out of 10 found this review helpful
Very enjoyable reading. Most other books seem to be a little biased on either the christian or muslim side, this book achieves a good balance.
 All things new under the sun, this is not October 1, 2004
11 out of 16 found this review helpful
Many who are interested in the Middle Ages, the Crusades, and the Templars, wonder just what influences the Templars may have been exposed to while serving in "Outremer". Were they influenced by their exposure to Islam and other asian religions? What would they have learned? Who would they have learned from, and how? This is why I bought the book. All the others I have read to date deal, neatly, with the established history of the order. I thought, after seeing the title of this book, that I might, at last, get some new information concerning these mysterious questions. I was wrong.
Mr. Wasserman regurgitates old historical data in what some might term terse or concise. I would say clipped. The same old information people have already read,pasted together in short, boring chronology. There seems to be no new research exposed here. He does touch on the questions of mystical influence, but only at the end, and only briefly, essentially saying that these questions do exist and it is possible that the knights were influenced by their experiences. Wow!
If you have read more than one book on the Crusades, you will not read anything new here. It is essentially two stories, one of the Templars, and the other of the Assassins.
I found it dry and unimaginative.
 Glad I looked twice October 31, 2003
9 out of 12 found this review helpful
This book was sitting on a table surrounded by post 9/11 geopolitical armchair analysts' books and I am so glad I bothered to pick it up. The amount of scholarly work and lack of bias are evident in Wasserman's assessment of the historical implications of Christianity and Islam's births and growths. This thesis, the influence that the East has had on the West is one that is often scoffed at, today. This book is rife with factual details that condense to form a sensible puzzle in contrast to other books who push a reader into adopting an extreme position (that of the expert author's). It was especially refreshing to read a book that complies so well with the blade of reason. Highly recommend this book to any individual who bothers to question.
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