Its mysterious symbols and rituals had been used in secret for centuries before Freemasonry revealed itself in London in 1717. Once known, Freemasonry spread throughout the world and attracted kings, emperors and statesmen to take its sacred oaths. It also attracted great revolutionaries such as George Washington in America, Garibaldi in Italy and Bolivar in South America. It was outlawed over the centuries by Hitler, Mussolini and the Ayatollah Khomeini. John Robinson sets out to discover where this powerful organization came from; what it was doing in the centuries before it rose from the underground more than 270 years ago; and why Freemasonry was attacked with such intense hatred by the Roman Catholic church. The story proves that the Knights Templars in Britain, fleeing arrest and torture by pope and king, formed a secret society of mutual protection that came to be called Freemasonry.