Review: Decoding the Lost Symbol by Simon Cox

Book Details:
ISBN: 978-0-7432-8727-2
Publication Date: November 2009
Publisher: Simon and Schuster, Inc.
Format: Paperback, 233 pgs.

From the Cover:

Dan Brown's new novel once again features Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon, this time in the United States, racing to uncover clues and crack codes involving secrets that are perpetuated to this day. But how much of the novel is true and what is pure fiction? Simon Cox, bestselling author of Cracking the Da Vinci Code and Illuminating Angels & Demons, offers the first definitive guide to all the mysteries featured in The Lost Symbol.

Based on extensive research, this A-to-Z guide lists the real people, organizations, and themes featured in Dan Brown's latest novel, explains their histories and their meanings, reproduces and analyzes the symbols themselves, and provides insider knowledge gleaned from years of exhaustive study. From the monuments of Washington, D.C., to the secrets of Salt Lake City and the hidden enclaves in Langley, Virginia, Cox knows where the facts are hidden about the Freemasons, Albert Pike, the Rosicrucians, and Founding Fathers, and more.

This is the only resource you'll need to understand and enjoy the complex new world of The Lost Symbol.

My Take:

Dan Brown researches his novels featuring Robert Langdon extensively. Simon Cox provides us with a detailed support manual for this research. Similar to Cox's Cracking the Da Vinci Code, there is a lot of information to be digested here. The book is organized alphabetically, which works well when you are referring back for a certain bit of info, but does make it a bit hard to read without having a specific destination in mind.

I learned quite a bit from reading this. The Smithsonian Museum Support Center, where a lot of action takes place in Dan Brown's novel, is a real place. Much of Brown's descriptions of the place are spot on, of course certain liberties have to be taken in order to provide an interesting and thrilling plot.

Dan Brown does a good job of educating readers, but Simon Cox takes the learning a step further by providing in depth knowledge of these topics. If you enjoy Brown's novels, I do not see how you would not enjoy this book as well.

About the Author:

Simon Cox was the founding editor in chief of the successful newsstand magazine Phenomena. Having studied Egyptology at University College London, he went on to work as a research assistant for some of the biggest names in the alternative history game, including Graham Hancock, Robert Bauval, and David Rohl. He splits his time between Britain and the United States.