Inside the Brotherhood: Explosive Secrets of the Freemasons Book

When the House of Commons Home Affairs Committee recently recommended that police officers, magistrates, judges and crown officers should publicly register their Masonic membership, it was very largely thanks to the ammunition provided by Martin Short's investigative tour de force. His "Inside the Brotherhood" carried on the pioneering work begun by Stephen Knight's explosive account "The Brotherhood".

Approximately half a million men in the British Isles - another five million around the world - are Freemasons. "Inside the Brotherhood" examines what kind of men join the Craft - and why. It investigates the occult elements in Masonry, whether its rituals should be seen as a religion - and, if so, what god is being worshipped. And, relying on first-hand evidence wherever possible, the book probes the extent to which the Masonic oaths of mutual aid and secrecy have contaminated the fraternity, aroused mounting hostility from churches, politicians and public, and provoked charges of corruption in key areas of British life, including the police force, local government, the City, and the secret services."