Despite the promise of its somewhat lurid title and cover, this odd combination of scholarship and speculation does not really have what it takes to capture the attention of a general reading audience. Its extremely broad theme is that "from the time of the Crusades to modern years, a handful of families have controlled the course of world events and have built their own status and wealth through collective efforts and intermarriage." Sora, who covered much of the same material in his earlier The Lost Treasure of the Knights Templar, connects the leaders of the 14th-century French military group the Knights Templar to 18th-century pirates such as Captain Kidd as well as Revolutionary heroes such as Benjamin Franklin. Sora provides some interesting insights into each subject: the business organization and acumen of the Knights Templar made them, in effect, "the first ever multinational corporation"; William Kidd was a businessman with ties to Scottish Masonic private clubs; and Franklin's efforts to keep the colonials supplied and funded meant that he "operated through Masonic groups in England and France, and his partners in the pro-American war efforts were more often than not hedonists, occultists, Rosicrucians, slave traders and spies." But his general attempt to connect Masonic groups to more current events like the J.F.K. assassination is on far shakier ground, and a final chapter on Yale's legendary Skull and Bones fraternity seems tacked on to book only to allow Sora to argue—but never prove—that "coincidences point to an elite handful of interlocking relationships that have a hold over national affairs." (Mar.)
