Web of Gold: The Secret History of Sacred Treasures (Hardcover)

The search for the treasure intensified in the late 18th and early 19th centuries with the activities of General Dagobert, a Grand Orient Freemason, and a fellow initiate the Marquis de Chefdebien, both of who appear to have acquired precious archives which included information relating to the treasure. Almost a century later, the extraordinary and lavish lifestyle of the priest of Rennes-le-Chateau, Berenger Sauniere, drew attention once again to the presence of the legendary treasure and the transmission of archives.

Web of Gold further reveals the search for this treasure by members of the Nazi High Command in the latter stages of WWII. Although it is unlikely that they discovered anything substantial of the holy treasure, it is known that quantities of gold were transported north from the Pyrenees at this time. Attacks on these convoys and the theft of gold by rogue Resistance units is claimed to have led to the destruction of the village of Oradour by the Nazis, and thiry-seven years later to the arrest of Robin Mackness, accused of smuggling gold from south western France.

In following the fate of the archives until the 1950s, the trail ends at the formation and public disclosure of the Priory of Sion. It would appear that members of the Priory gained possession of some of these archives that have lain at the heart of the mystery of Rennes-le-Chateau, and have been the cause for the promotion of the Priory's own mythology.

In examining the reality of the Priory of Sion, it is revealed that one of their founders, Pierre Plantard, Grand master in the 1980s, was a fervent supporter of the Vichy government's ideals through which he forged friendships that link him to the murky world of the late President Francois Mitterrand. Mitterrand himself maintained a cabal of old Vichy friends who are shown to have been intimately connected with the search for the holy treasure and to the activities of those associted with the gold hijacks during the war.

Finally, the roles of factions within the Catholic Church, political Zionism, secret societies, neo-Masonic and Chivalric sects,are examined with regard to their influence in the politics of Europe. A non-judgemental assessment of their modus operandi and their possible agendas - ranging from anti-Communist activities, to alternate models for a united Europe, and to the blatant search for power and wealth - are analysed, from which a disquieting picture for the future emerges.