The Compasses and the Cross
Stephen Dafoe
Published: 01 May 2021
In the Compasses and the Cross Stephen Dafoe the author of Nobly Born: An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar traces the origins and evolution of the Masonic Knights Templar from their beginnings in the middle of the eighteenth century to its present form.
Description
In the Compasses and the Cross, Stephen Dafoe, the author of Nobly Born: An Illustrated History of the Knights Templar, traces the origins and evolution of the Masonic Knights Templar from their beginnings in the middle of the eighteenth century to its present form.
Through the course of the book, Dafoe draws on his knowledge of the history of the original Order as well as that of the modern Masonic variant. Individual chapters will examine the various myths connecting the Templars and Freemasonry put forth by eighteenth and nineteenth century Freemasons including James Anderson, Andrew Michael Ramsay and Baron von Hund, as well as Scottish Freemasons such as William Alexander Lawrie and the Chevalier James Burnes. In addition to separating historical fact from masonic tradition, Dafoe also chronicles the differences in Masonic Templarism as it exists in Britain and the Dominion with that of the United States.
An excellent and thought provoking addition to the existing information on the Knights Templar which will be essential reading for all Masons and general readers with an interest in this subject area.
About the author
Stephen Dafoe is a Canadian freelance journalist and the author of several books on the Knights Templar and Freemasonry.
His most recently published book is Morgan: The Scandal That Shook Freemasonry, a 500-page examination of the abduction and probable murder of William Morgan by Freemasons. Set 50 years after the American Declaration of Independence, the story of the disappearance of William Morgan and the five years of trials that sought to discover what became of him is told in a narrative style, supported by a wealth of endnotes and appendices reprinting the primary sources from which Dafoe was able to retrace historical steps and uncover a 183-year-old cold case.
Dafoe is perhaps best known for the two speculative history books he co-wrote with Alan Butler in the late 1990s. These books were The Warriors and the Bankers, re-published by Lewis Masonic in 2006 and The Knights Templar Revealed, re-published by Constable and Robinson in the same year.
Stephen has stepped away from the speculative style of his earlier books and concentrated on a more straightforward historical approach in recent years. His research has been published in The Scottish Rite Journal, Heredom (the Transactions of the Scottish Rite Research Society), The Scottish Rite Journal, Templar History Magazine, Knight Templar Magazine, Masonic Magazine and The Masonic Society Journal.
In addition to writing a book each year for the past half decade, Dafoe writes hundreds of articles each year for a variety of print publications in Western Canada.
Dafoe was born in Belleville, Ontario in 1962 and spent the first 40 years of his life in that province. He moved to Alberta in November of 2002 and now resides in a rural community north of Edmonton.
