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Historical The Last Templar: The Tragedy of Jaques de Monlay by Alain Demurger (trans. Antonia Nevill) / $18 / Profile Books / 2006 Amidst the many books on the Knights Templar that range from ludicrous conspiracy theories to serious treatments of the Order and its place in history, this scholarly biography of Jacques de Molay, the Templars' last Grand Master, stands out. De Molay, along with other Templar leaders, was arrested in 1307 by King Philip the Fair of France and later executed for crimes that included heresy and obscene sexual practices. Part of the problem with constructing a biography of a man who lived 700 years ago is the unavoidably incomplete nature of the sources, but Demurger's access to critical sources, such as the few letters of de Molay preserved in Barcelona—as well as the author's command of the history—not only shed light on the person of the Grand Master, but also lay bare the political maneuvering that underlay the Templar tragedy. Along the way, Demurger challenges some long-held assumptions, such as that a huge defaulted loan was the reason why Philip wished to destroy the Order. Ultimately, Demurger concludes that while de Molay was an excellent military strategist and warrior, his lack of political acumen was what doomed the Templars. While we can never be sure of what actually happened—and one may critique Demurger for his positivist tendency to think that we can recover the past—The Last Templar is nontheless a sure bet for anyone wishing an excellent and rigorous academic treatment of the famous Order. —Ken Mondschein

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