u003cpu003eu003ciu003eThe Da Vinci Codeu003c/iu003e, Dan Brown's best selling novel, purports to be more than fiction: it claims to be based on fact and scholarly research. Brown wants his readers to believe that he is revealing the long-concealed truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and early Christianity, a truth that he says has been suppressed by the malevolent and conspiratorial forces of the Catholic Church. The novel alleges that there has been throughout history a secret group of true followers of a Gnostic Jesus and his wife, Mary Magdalene, the true "Holy Grail." Almost everything most Christians and non-Christians think they know about Jesus, according to Dan Brown, is completely wrong, the result of Catholic propaganda designed to hide the truth from the world.u003cbru003eu003cbru003eBut are u003ciu003eThe Da Vinci Codeu003c/iu003e's claims fact or just plain fiction? Is the novel well-researched as claimed? What is the truth about Jesus, Mary Magdalene, and the early Church? Has the Catholic Church distorted the real Jesus? Why is the novel so popular? What about the anti-Catholic, anti-Christian agenda behind the novel?u003cbru003eu003cbru003eBest selling author Carl Olson and journalist Sandra Miesel answer these and other important questions. Their painstaking research intou003ciu003eThe Da Vinci Codeu003c/iu003e and its sources reveals some surprising truths. No one who has read or heard about u003ciu003eThe Da Vinci Codeu003c/iu003e should miss this provocative and illuminating book.u003c/pu003e