• An examination of the interactions of the Christian Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins, and of the profound changes in Western society that resulted. • Restores the reputation of the secret Muslim order of the Assassins, disparaged as the world's first terrorist group. • Dispels many myths about the Knights Templar and provides the most incisive portrait of them to date. A thousand years ago Christian battled Muslim for possession of a strip of land upon which both their religions were founded. These Crusades changed the course of Western history, but less known is the fact that they also were the meeting ground for two legendary secret societies: The Knights Templar and their Muslim counterparts, the Assassins. In The Templars and the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven, occult scholar and secret society member James Wasserman provides compelling evidence that the interaction of the Knights Templar and the Assassins in the Holy Land transformed the Templars from the Pope's private army into a true occult society, from which they would sow the seeds of the Renaissance and the Western Mystery Tradition. Both orders were destroyed as heretical some seven hundred years ago, but Templar survivors are believed to have carried the secret teachings of the East into an occult underground, from which sprang both Rosicrucianism and Masonry. Assassin survivors, known as Nizari Ismailis, flourish to this day under the spiritual leadership of the Aga Khan. Wasserman strips the myths from both groups and penetrates to the heart of their enlightened beliefs and rigorous practices, delivering the most probing picture yet of these holy warriors.

Preface 1. An Introduction to Secret Societies Part One: Setting the Stage 2. Historical Background of the Crusades Part Two: The Order of Assassins 3. The Assassin Myth 4. Islamic Roots 5. Teachings of Ismailism 6. Enter Hasan 7. An Overview of Hasan's Assassins 8. After Hasan 9. The Syrian Assassins 10. The Nizari Ismailis Today 11. Reflections on the Assassin Order Part Three: The Knights Templar 12. The First Crusade 13. An Overview of the Order 14. The Early Years 15. The Second Crusade 16. Saladin and the Battle of Hattin 17. The Third Crusade 18. The Fourth Crusade 19. The Cathars and the Albigensian Crusade 20. The Fifth Crusade 21. The Sixth Crusade and the Battle of La Forbie 22. The Seventh Crusade and the Rise of Baybars 23. The Eighth Crusade and Final Defeat 24. The Last Years of the Knights Templar 25. The End of the Order 26. Reflections on the Templar Order Part Four: Afterword The Path of the Mysteries Appendix One Appendix Two Endnotes Selected Bibliography Index Maps