The Freemasons: A History of the World's Most Powerful Secret Society
Many books about the Freemasons are hysterical polemics based on  ludicrous conspiracy theories. British historian Jasper Ridley offers a welcome  antidote to these half-witted tomes withThe Freemasons, a sober-minded  account of a secret society that has survived for centuries. Most important,  Ridley provides the one thing missing from many discussions of the masons:  facts. For instance, after noting the "well-established legend in the United  States that the Freemasons made the American Revolution," Ridley shows that "of  the 55 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, only nine were certainly  masons." (Prominent members of the founding generation who werenotmasons include Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.) This shows  that masons have played a meaningful role in history, though not the domineering  one their critics have alleged. Even though Ridley (who is not a mason) defends  the masons against the overblown charges made against them, he doesn't quite buy  the explanation that "they are no different from a golf club. ...Members of golf  clubs do not take oaths not to reveal the secrets of the club." For a level- headed account of how a medieval guild of stone masons developed over time into  an offbeat social organization with a powerful membership, Ridley's book is  tough to beat.--John Miller