Back in high school, I read a book about the American Revolution, whose thesis was that the British officer corps was inclined to “throw” the war because many of them were Freemasons who in some cases shared lodges with their American counterparts, and actually agreed with the Enlightenment ideals espoused by the rebels and encouraged by international Freemasonry, even if they couldn’t say so in public. Despite the premise, it wasn’t an hysterical conspiracy theory book, but an honest-to-goodness historical analysis. I remember getting it through the History Book Club back in the first half of the 1980’s, but that’s about all I can recall.
I know it’s a long shot, but does anyone happen to know the title of that book?
I know The Temple and the Lodge by the authors of Holy Blood, Holy Grail make similar claims, and that book is less insane than Holy Blood, Holy Grail itself. Dunno if it's the actual book in question, though.
Appreciate the thought, masque, but the book I was thinking of was focused explicitly on the American Revolution, and didn't go into the history of the Knights Templar (at least as far as I remember).
Was it a leap in the dark? Sounds familiar…
It's not "Freemasonry in the American Revolution", is it? It's a pretty old book but has been reprinted a few times.