{"product_id":"the-craft-how-the-freemasons-made-the-modern-world-9781541704688","title":"The Craft: How the Freemasons Made the Modern World","description":"\u003cb\u003eDiscover the \"convincingly researched and thoroughly entertaining\" (\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e) history of the world's oldest and most influential fraternity\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Founded in London in 1717 as a way of binding men in fellowship, Freemasonry proved so addictive that within two decades it had spread across the globe. Under George Washington, the Craft became a creed for the new American nation. Under Napoleon, it became a tool of authoritarianism and a cover for revolutionary conspiracy. Later, both the Mormon Church and the Sicilian Mafia would owe their origins to Freemasonry. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Yet the Masons were as feared as they were influential, seen by the Catholic Church as a den of devil worship. For Hitler, Mussolini, and Franco, the Lodges spread the diseases of pacifism, socialism, and Jewish influence, so had to be crushed. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Freemasonry's story yokes together Winston Churchill and Walt Disney, Wolfgang Mozart and Shaquille O'Neal, Benjamin Franklin and Buzz Aldrin. John Dickie's \u003ci\u003eThe Craft \u003c\/i\u003eis an enthralling exploration of the world's most famous and misunderstood secret brotherhood, a movement that not only helped to forge modern society but remains prominent today.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbout the Author\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJohn Dickie\u003c\/b\u003e is professor of Italian studies at University College, London. His book \u003ci\u003eCosa Nostra: A History of the Sicilian Mafia\u003c\/i\u003e is an international bestseller, with over twenty translations, and won the CWA Dagger award for nonfiction. In 2005, the president of the Italian Republic appointed him a Commendatore dell'Ordine della Stella della Solidarietà Italiana. He lives in London.\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"PublicAffairs","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51615429001490,"sku":"9781541704688","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0831\/4771\/8930\/files\/img_4df66acc-9796-47e9-9fdc-bce395bbf7ef.jpg?v=1758095803","url":"https:\/\/surprise-castle.myshopify.com\/products\/the-craft-how-the-freemasons-made-the-modern-world-9781541704688","provider":"Surprise Castle","version":"1.0","type":"link"}