- Hardcover: 304 pages
- Publisher: Bantam Press (3 Jun 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 0593046943
- ISBN-13: 978-0593046944
- Product Dimensions: 23.6 x 15.5 x 3.3 cm
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 151,225 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Description
Product Description
In 1666 a spark from an unattended Baker's oven in Pudding Lane led to the Great Fire which levelled large areas of London. After the flames had been put out and the dead buried, London was once more a blank canvas for the builders and architects to create a new city - a city which could be built in the full glory deserving of its destiny. The men at the centre of London's reconstruction were, in the main, members of the Royal Society, men such as Sir Christopher Wren. This society, founded originally by the Rosicrucians, adhered to a belief in the mystical wisdom of the ancient world and the millenarianist beliefs of its founders. Central to this idea was the conviction that London had long been the chosen site of the New Jerusalem - the city that would descend from the sky at the second coming as foretold in the Book of Revelations. Now, the Great Fire, as devastating as it had been, had given them the chance to recreate the city in a more fitting image. In this book Adrian Gilbert takes the reader on a guided tour of a hidden London, revealing the true significance of such well known sites as St Paul's Cathedral, the Monument and Temple church. He also introduces us to the men and women who shaped 17th century London, leaving us this legacy of mystical significance. Written in Adrian Gilbert's trademark style, combining personal detective story, archaeological investigation with rigorous historical research "The New Jerusalem" is a colourful historical portrait of London.
From the Back Cover
In 1666 a spark from an unattended baker's oven in Pudding Lane led to the Great Fire of London, which levelled large areas of the city. After the flames had been put out and the dead buried, London was once more a blank canvas for the builders and architects to create a new city - a city that could be built in the grand style its destiny deserved.
Many of the men at the centre of London's reconstruction, among them Sir Christopher Wren, were members of the newly formed Royal Society. This avowedly scientific organization was broad in scope, its early members being largely either proto-Freemasons or Rosicrucians and adhering to a Hermetic world-view. They believed that Britain had a preordained role to fulfil as the leading Protestant nation in Europe, and central to this belief was the conviction that England was a new Israel, God's chosen country for the new age of enlightenment then dawning. This exclusive group of men equated the capital city, which they now set about rebuilding out of white stone instead of wood, with the prophesied New Jerusalem.
In The New Jerusalem Adrian Gilbert takes the reader on a guided tour of a hidden London, revealing the true significance of such well known sites as St Paul's cathedral, the Monument and Temple church. He also introduces us to the men and women who shaped seventeenth-century London, leaving us this legacy of mystical significance. Combining personal detective story and archaeological investigation with rigorous historical research, The New Jerusalem is a colourful historical portrait of London as we have never seen it before.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A brilliant and long awaited look at English History,
By
This review is from: The New Jerusalem (Paperback)
For those people who are interested in the real history of London and indeed the UK as a whole and in it's international affairs, then this book is a must have.For some reason, modern history and historians tend to play down the key facts and concetrate on the more mudane aspects of English heriatge. Thankfully this book explores the deeper and often ignored, yet vital, facts of English history.
0 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Ok,
By A Customer
This review is from: The New Jerusalem (Hardcover)
This is an ok book with some leaps of faith. We are supposed to believe that certain great fires and disasters were created by the Mason's in-order to rebuild great cities. Evidence - lacking.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.5 out of 5 stars (2 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great esoteric history plus the roots of non-Jewish Zionism in Britain,
By Phillip M. Rose - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The New Jerusalem (Hardcover)
Unlike the only other reviewer so far, I found this book practically un-putdownable. I first came upon this book a few years ago in my post-DaVinci Code reading, when I, like many others, sought out dozens of books that shed any light on the history of religion over the past 2,000 years or so. This book touches on the history of the Rosicrucians, the Knights Templar, Freemasonry, Kabbalah, John Dee, and much, much more. Great stuff!
What brings me back to this fascinating book now that my interests have veered more to the political side of things is the central theme of the book -- the non-Jewish Zionism that sprang up in England after Henry VIII had his little row with the Catholic Church. Very clever, these Brits. From the time the British Isles came under the influence, if not actual control of the Romans, the native Brits claimed descent from Brutus, great-grandson of Aeneas. In this way they trumped the parvenu Romans with their putative genealogy. Then, rather suddenly, when Henry VIII broke free from the Catholics, the Brits became one of the Lost Tribes of Israel, descended from King David! Just like that! Actually, according to Gilbert in his well researched text, this claim to Hebrew heritage wasn't really a sudden thing; there had been a centuries-old struggle over who had the right to appoint British Bishops, King or Pope. There was a long-standing myth, similar to the Mary Magdalene Merovingian myth in southern France, that Joseph of Aramathea had brought Christianity to England, bringing with him the Holy Grail. Some British monarchical lines had long traced their heritage from Biblical prophets and kings. The very Stone of Scone was said to be Jacob's pillow stone. Henry VIII's claim to Davidic lineage gave the British biblical precedence over the Johnny-come-lately Catholics. Britain became for many influential people the New Israel, and London the New Jerusalem. Thus non-Jewish Zionism in the British Isles was flourishing around the same time that it was springing up with Protestants on the Continent. We're still paying the price for this re-branding exercise today, with the still prevalent non-Jewish Zionism in the US and UK providing essential support for the Zionist state of Israel, that center of peace and tranquillity in the Middle East. This book is well illustrated with photographs and drawings that bring the story of The New Jerusalem in London to life. There are used copies available on this site now, but if you can't find a copy here look for the author's website or the UK Amazon site for new copies. The book has apparently found a new UK publisher, so new copies should be readily available. This is a cracking great read, and I highly recommend it. 2 of 3 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars
Be warned: the real content belies the title,
By Boileau0663 - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: The New Jerusalem (Paperback)
This book is supposed to uncover secret meanings in the architecture of the main buildings of London as they were rebuilt after the devastating fire of 1666 AD, specially St Paul's cathedral. The architects wanted to show that London, now capital of the most powerful nation in Europe, was the new (reformed) Jerusalem.Well, let me tell you that the book is more a history of Hermeticism, the Reformation and English politics than a real in-depth study of occult meanings in architecture. As English history was almost totally unknown to me before I read this book, I was delighted to learn so many interesting things about John Wycliffe, Queen Elizabeth and her magus John Dee, and the many legends about the origin of the English people. I began to get bored halfway through the book when the author started to write endless chapters about the Rosicrucian movement and its symbolism. We are apprised that a pamphlet or a booklet about a mysterious society was published in such and such a year and that the illustration on the cover refers to such and such mythological episode but nothing tangible happens. Adrian Gilbert is on the whole a good writer and his English clear and quite polished but he has a knack of writing things that go round and round and lead nowhere. He take a little clue here and there, suggests a possible meaning and then goes off in a new direction. He is very careful to end each chapter in a way that keeps the reader in suspense but as nothing really interesting or mind-blowing ever materializes, one quickly realizes that one is being fooled with cheap literay tricks. Finally, at the end of what amounts to a huge digression, he relates his discoveries about the hidden plan of the New Jerusalem. These finds are few in number and not really interesting. Many are incomprehensible unless one is a mathematician or an astrologer. No clear conclusion is drawn from what has been found and the final impression is one of an unfinished piece of homework (is Gilbert trying to build up a suspense for his next book, one wonders). It was hard for me to finish the book and although I was grateful for all the knowledge I gained about the 16th and 17th centuries, I felt somewhat disappointed. |
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