Many books about the Freemasons are hysterical polemics based on ludicrous conspiracy theories. British historian Jasper Ridley offers a welcome antidote to these half-witted tomes with The Freemasons , a sober-minded account of a secret society that has survived for centuries. Most important, Ridley provides the one thing missing from many discussions of the facts. For instance, after noting the "well-established legend in the United States that the Freemasons made the American Revolution," Ridley shows that "of the 55 men who signed the Declaration of Independence, only nine were certainly masons." (Prominent members of the founding generation who were not masons include Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, and Alexander Hamilton.) This shows that masons have played a meaningful role in history, though not the domineering one their critics have alleged. Even though Ridley (who is not a mason) defends the masons against the overblown charges made against them, he doesn't quite buy the explanation that "they are no different from a golf club. ...Members of golf clubs do not take oaths not to reveal the secrets of the club." For a level- headed account of how a medieval guild of stone masons developed over time into an offbeat social organization with a powerful membership, Ridley's book is tough to beat. --John Miller

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