Books

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3rd Edition

Since its original publication in September 2005, Freemasons For Dummies® has sold almost 200,000 copies and is the world's best-selling introduction to the ancient and accepted fraternity of the Freemasons.  Now in its 3rd edition, it contains  updated statistics, developments, website references, and more.

This fun to read and informative guide explains the organization's origins in medieval Europe, its philosophy and purpose, along with the elaborate rituals, secret signs, and cryptic symbols that set Freemasonry apart from other fraternal orders. The book profiles famous Freemasons throughout history,  including many of America's Founding Fathers, as well as prominent politicians and business leaders. It offers a balanced assessment of the many controversies and conspiracy theories that continue to swirl around Freemasonry.  

Individual lodges and grand lodges all over the world have adopted Freemasons For Dummies as an introduction for their new candidates and their families to the complexities of the fraternity. But veteran Masons of many years will find eye-opening information, too. For anyone looking for an evenhanded overview of Freemasonry's past, present, and future, this guide is the key.

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“No book since John Robinson’s ‘Born In Blood’ has created more interest and excitement in Masonic circles and among the general public.” 

Carl Wilson, The Rite Recorder 

“This might be the best general book on Freemasonry any Mason or non-Mason could want.” 

Gary Dryfoos, A Page About Freemasonry 

Solomon's Builders: Freemasons, Founding Fathers, and the Building of Washington D.C.

Solomon's Builders transports you back to the birth of a radical new nation and tells how a secretive society influenced and inspired the formation of what would become the most powerful nation on earth.

Solomon's Builders follows George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, and the other Founding Fathers who transformed the lessons of their Masonic lodge rooms into models for a new democracy. In the process, it pieces together the still-visible clues of the Freemasons as it uncovers the mystical Masonic symbolism hidden in the design of the city and in its monuments, statues and buildings.

From “all-seeing eyes,” pentagrams, and Egyptian-inspired obelisks, to the imposing and mysterious Masonic temples of the "Widow's Sons," Solomon’s Builders guides readers on a Freemason’s tour of Washington, D.C. as it separates fact from myth and reveals the background of Dan Brown's novel, The Lost Symbol, the sequel to The Da Vinci Code.

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"SOLOMON'S BUILDERS deserves repeated and ongoing mention as an excellent survey of Freemason influences on United States history."
Midwest Book Review

"Hodapp's work is the first well written account of the philosophical thinking that led to the formation of a common man's democracy. This is the reference book that teachers need to read and public schools use in their American History classes."
Karl Grube, Ph.D.,Bonisteel Masonic Library, Ann Arbor, MI

"Indeed, this is one of the better books that I have seen that credits Freemasonry where credit is due, while debunking many of the more common claims made by both Freemasons who wish to see Freemasonry's positive influence everywhere, and by our enemies who use it to reveal Freemasonry's insidious attempt at world domination."
Thomas W. Jackson, The Northern Light Magazine

"What distinguishes SOLOMON’S BUILDERS from the good and bad, malicious and benevolent, is its honesty, humor and clarity ."
Mark A. Tabbert, Author of American Freemasons: Three Centuries of Building Communities

"Hodapp brings us something a little different; an academically written book on the early days of American Freemasonry without the pretentious trappings of most scholarly treatments on the subject."

Stephen Dafoe, Author of Nobly Born

Perspectives On 200 Years of Indiana Freemasonry

Freemasonry crossed the western frontier to the edge of the  Indiana Territory along the banks of the Wabash River in 1809. It would take nine more years and the declaration of Indiana statehood before the formation of the Grand Lodge of Indiana F&AM on January 13, 1818 in Madison. Since that time, Indiana's Freemasons have been at the center of their communities, their state, and the nation.  

Heritage Endures is a different type of Masonic grand lodge history book. It frames the Hoosier state's fraternity within America's history and the outside Masonic world for the last two centuries.  Heritage Endures explores some of the most fascinating, heroic, touching, turbulent, and a few of the most unsettling moments of Indiana's and America's Masonic history.

• Discover the chaos on the frontier that led Virginia and Kentucky to send Freemasonry westward to civilize a rough and rebellious population 
• The never told history of the Most Worshipful Prince Hall Grand Lodge of Indiana
• Indiana's Masonic heritage trail
• Dwight Smith and the tour de force celebration of Indiana's 150th anniversary of Freemasonry as the world erupted around them
• The struggles between Indiana's Freemasons and the Ku Klux Klan of the 1920s, led by the most powerful Klansman of his day
• The whys, wherefores, and results of shifting membership on American Freemasonry
• How computers and 'E-Masonry' changed almost everything in the fraternity

This book was commissioned by the Grand Lodge of Indiana F&AM for its 200th anniversary. But Heritage Endures goes far beyond the borders of Indiana and provides a broader picture of Freemasonry as a fraternal and social force that has evolved and adapted to suit the times in which it has resided. It is a unique series of perspectives of the Masonic fraternity in America as a whole, using the Hoosier state's Masons and their lodges as an example of the nation's wider fraternal landscape.

"I don't know if the Grand Lodge of Indiana is special, but this history is—it's well written and fascinating to read..." 

S. Brent Morris, Scottish Rite Journal

"Christopher L. Hodapp is one of the leading Masonic authors and voices of the present time." 

Alton G. Roundtree, 

The Phylaxis Magazine

"Hodapp's engaging style transcends the page."  The Square Magazine

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Christopher L. Hodapp & Alice Von Kannon

This no-nonsense guide reveals the meaning behind the cryptic codes and secret rituals of the medieval brotherhood of warrior monks known as the Knights Templar.

The Templar Code For Dummies is for those who have a genuine interest in the Templars, as well as the millions of people whose interest was sparked after reading or watching The Da Vinci Code and want to know more about the Knights Templar and other secret societies. The Templar Code is more than an intriguing cipher or a mysterious symbol – it is the Code by which the Knights Templar lived and died, the Code that bound them together in secrecy, and the Code that inspired them to nearly superhuman feats of courage and endurance. 

“[A] wonderful book on the history of the Templars and the crusades that is sure to be of value to those interested in learning more about the Knights Templar. Hodapp and von Kannon not only cover this aspect of the subject, but also delve into the various neo-Templar Orders that exist today including the Freemasons and the SMOTJ.”
Stephen Dafoe, Author of Nobly Born

“If you’ve ever read works about the Templars before and felt like you’d just asked a question of one of the blind men describing an elephant, then this is certainly the book for you.”

Ed King, MasonicInfo.com

“Everything you would ever want to know about the Templars is laid out in the freewheeling but accessible "Dummies" style to which Hodapp and Von Kannon are becoming very well accustomed.”
Nathan Brindle,The Indiana Freemason Magazine

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Christopher L. Hodapp & Alice Von Vannon

A conspiracy theory is the idea that someone, or a group of someones, acts secretly, with the goal of achieving power, wealth, influence, or other benefit. It can be as small as two petty thugs conspiring to stickup a liquor store, or as big as a group of revolutionaries conspiring to take over their country’s government. Individuals, corporations, churches, politicians, military leaders, and entire governments can all be conspirators, in plots as evil as secretly developing nuclear weapons, as creepy as smuggling stolen human transplant organs, or as annoying as cornering the market on neighborhood $4-coffee joints. And secret societies are the repositories of the hidden knowledge that spins the conspiracy theory.

Whether you're a skeptic or a true believer, this fascinating guide, packed with the latest information, walks you through some of the most infamous conspiracy theories — like Area 51 and the assassination of JFK — and introduces you to such mysterious organizations as the Illuminati, the Bilderbergers, Freemasons, the Ninjas, the Mafia, Rosicrucians and more. Sorting out fact from fiction, you'll be able to explore their impact on society today. 

“Whether it’s organized crime, the Illuminati, or world domination, Chris and Alice take you down the dark alleys of mystery and fear but always keep a flashlight focused carefully so you won’t get grabbed by the hobgoblins. . . This is a book with an easy to read style and it’s one you can consume in small pieces at your leisure. I’ll bet, though, that like me you’ll devour it within a few pleasant hours and set it down having learned a bunch of things about events and organizations you thought you had thoroughly understood prior to that.”

Ed King, MasonicInfo.com

The influence of Freemasonry on the founding of Washington, D.C., is evident throughout the city's buildings, statues and monuments--but it's written in coded symbols that few people understand. Dan Brown's thriller The Lost Symbol sends symbologist detective Robert Langdon through the capital to unravel its Masonic secrets. Now in Deciphering The Lost Symbol, Christopher L. Hodapp compares each clue and plot twist in Brown's story to the true facts.

• Discover the meaning of "The Lost Word"
  
• Decode Masonic and alchemical symbolism
  
• Explore the innermost rooms of Masonic lodges and temples
  
• Visit the restricted area of the U.S. Capitol and other landmarks
  
• Uncover secret patterns in Washington, D.C.'s maps and monuments
  
• Crack the codes buried in The Lost Symbol's artwork and puzzles 

"Alchemy, temples, restricted areas, hidden codes, and more, "Deciphering the Lost Symbol" is a must for those who search for hidden meanings in what seems to be plain sight.
Midwest Book Review

“...confident in recommending it to everyone, Mason and non-mason alike. This is the perfect a compliment to The Lost Symbol and I feel it should be on the shelf right next to it on your bookcase.”

David Naughton-Shires, Masonic Art Exchange