What's New in the
Secrets of the Code Paperback Edition

No one has followed The Da Vinci Code’s impact on our culture for the past two years than Dan Burstein and the “Secrets” team. The result is a substantially revised and updated edition of the original hardcover, featuring new and exciting material for Da Vinci Code fans:

•  Updated interviews
Dan Burstein and his team went back to the key contributors to Secrets of the Code to get their latest insights on The Da Vinci Code phenomenon--including  Margaret Starbird (reflecting on what we’ve learned about ourselves from the Da Vinci Code Phenomenon and further explaining her ideas about the Sacred Union), Bart Ehrman (“most of the recent finds that supposedly document the life of Mary Magdalene are either hoaxes or duds”), and Rev. Richard McBrien (an advisor on the making of the Da Vinci Code film).

•  “In Search of Dan Brown,” by David A. Shugarts
A revelatory mini-biography of novelist Dan Brown: where does he get his ideas? What are the influences on him? How did he come to be one of the world’s bestselling novelist of all time? What are some of his biggest secrets?

•  “Secrets of Sand and Stone: The Da Vinci Code and New Archeological Finds,” by Gwen Kinkead
Since the publication of the novel archeological finds that normally might not have even appeared in daily newspapers and magazines are suddenly hot news. Like the book itself, sorting out which of these finds is ‘fact’ or ‘fiction’ is the modern equivalent of the search for the grail. Here is an amazing, behind the scenes look at symbologists, archaeologists and treasure hunters who are decoding codes, translating ancient documents, interpreting symbols, and making history-changing finds today.

•  “The Codes of Dan Brown,” by David A. Shugarts
Decrypting the Novelistic Past: There are codes buried in all of Dan Brown's prior novels. From the coded message on the Da Vinci Code dustjacket to the mystery of Kryptos, the statue outside CIA headquarters that has baffled even the world's leading cryptographers, we show readers where the codes are and help decipher them.

•  “Thank You Lord, May I Have Another?” by Craig Hoffman
Hoffman casts a gimlet eye on the inner workings of Opus Dei, the controversial, secret sect that is the evil heart of The Da Vinci Code. Learn why a young woman is still recovering from her experiences with the organization, and who become members and how they are recruited.

•  “The Da Vinci Code and Jewish Culture,” by Rabbi Asher Jacobson
How Dan Brown uses intriguing ideas relating to Judaism, its history, and its symbols—including background of gender roles, sex and sexuality, and the divine feminine.

•  “New Discoveries about the ‘Grand Master’ Himself: Leonardo since The Da Vinci Code,” by Cathleen McGuigan
Learn more about Leonardo and his secrets, including a newly discovered portrait of Mary Magdalene, the tantalizing clues of a mural hidden behind a more modern painting, and a German art historian who claims she has found the model for the Mona Lisa.

•  “Code  Hot, Critics Hotter”
The Da Vinci Code brought out a host of sharp criticism, much of it with a strong religious point of view. But in this section of the book we feature some of the best writing to be found on the novel: Bernard Hamilton relates the book to the fondness we have for the Grail quest; Maureen Dowd, the acerbic, Pulitzer Prize winning journalist reveals why Dan Brown should be considered pro-, not anti-Catholic; and, Curtis White, the controversial social critic who believes the novel “allows us to flee the fraudulent culture that dominates our lives” and embraces “a different, secret, and erotic spirituality.”

•  "The Cardinal and the Code,” by Dan Burstein
In 2005, a cardinal close to the papacy admonished Catholics worldwide: “Don’t buy this book. Don’t read it because this is rotten food.” Why would the Catholic Church try and censure The Da Vinci Code—two years after publication? And have Catholics been listening? And what is the best way to come to terms with this kind of critique?

•  "In Search of the Grail at the Rosslyn Chapel,” by Dian Maclean
Maclean, a Scottish journalist profiles the modern “grailquesters” who come to the Rosslyn chapel to break codes as well as teach their own version of “true” history. And the member of the “Sauniere Society” who says he introduced Dan Brown to the chapel.

•  “The Case of the Purloined Plot?”
Meet Lewis Perdue, author of The Daughter of God, which, he claimed in a lawsuit, was plagiarized by Dan Brown—right down to the name of the heroine, the death of a major art figure, and a series of deep, dark secrets that have been covered up by the Catholic Church.

•  “What’s Next For Robert Langdon?” by David A. Shugarts
Welcome to the Solomon Key:  A ground-breaking analysis that uncovers the “secrets” behind the as-yet unpublished sequel to The Da Vinci Code—a book that will feature Robert Langdon in Washington DC looking back to the role of Freemasonry in the experience of the Founding Fathers. Dan Brown will do for early American history what he did for early Christian history in The Da Vinci Code. We preview these arguments.

•  The Da Vince Code Film
In May 2006, the Da Vinci Code film will be released, starring Tom Hanks and Audrey Tatou. We take readers on a tour of all the most controversial issues in this unauthorized guide to what may be one of the most talked about movies of all time.

All this, plus the “Thirty Best Books Related to The Da Vinci Code;” a collection of fascinating facts, figures, and ephemera that takes the pulse of The Da Vinci Code effect; and, what Faithful Reader has to say about books that take on the novel from a religious point of view—and finds a secular guide, Secrets of the Code, to be the best of the lot.