The Discovery of the Grail
Andrew Sinclair
Century hbk, 314 pgs, £16.99 now a £6.99 Arrow pbk
Review by Dave Clark (1998)
A survey of Holy Grail myths and legends, taking in an attempt at a complete history and some assessment of theorised grails. Sinclair follows, in his illuminating, scholarly yet fascinating way, Grail mythology around Babylon, Greece, Scandinavia, Rome, the Middle East, the USA, Nazi Germany, Europe, Britain and basically, all over the place. Some familiar themes crop up as he takes paths both physical and ideal, looking into, just for example, Arthurian literature, the Saint Elizabeth Cup of Egypt, the Grail said to be hidden in Rosslyn Chapel and sought by Rudolf Hess, and new aspects of the Grail’s appearance and depiction in stories of Mary Magdalene. Sinclair is strong on history and ritual.
However, he also takes a personal, idiosyncratic path. Which is good; I’d rather read a well-argued and researched version than the shallow survey this book would have been in the hands of a lesser writer. He investigates the chalice carved on Scottish tombstones, leading him to the Templars and the history of his own family, building as he does on his own previous work and that of others. I wish, though, that he’d made more of recent events. How could he leave out, particularly, the cup investigated by Graham Phillips in the strongly recommended The Search for the Grail (Century, 1995)? Phillips’ book prompted the Vatican to issue a statement of denial. This is still a useful survey though.