Secrets of Angels & Demons

Secrets of Angels & Demons – Dan Burstein

Dan Brown’s thriller Angels and Demons, in which symbologist Robert Langdon races through Rome and Vatican City to stop a plot by the Illuminati, became a global bestseller and sparked enormous curiosity about the history, art, science and religion behind the story. In Secrets of Angels & Demons: The Unauthorized Guide to the Bestselling Novel, editors Dan Burstein and Arne de Keijzer, who also produced a guide to The Da Vinci Code, gather experts to separate fact from fiction.

The book is a collection of essays, interviews and excerpts by historians, scientists, theologians, art experts and journalists. Contributors examine the real history of the Illuminati, the secret society that the novel portrays, and explain how it differs from the conspiracy theories that surround it. They explore the history of conflict and cooperation between the Catholic Church and science, including the trial of Galileo, and discuss the nature of antimatter and the real work of the CERN laboratory in Switzerland.

Other chapters examine the art and architecture of Rome that feature in the novel, especially the works of the Baroque sculptor Gian Lorenzo Bernini, the inner workings of the Vatican and the process of electing a new pope, ambigrams and symbols, and the novel’s treatment of faith and reason. The book also considers the accuracy of Dan Brown’s research and the reasons for the novel’s popularity.

Informative and engaging, Secrets of Angels & Demons will appeal to readers of Dan Brown and anyone interested in the history, art, science and religion behind the story. It is an unofficial guide and contains spoilers for the novel.