This was a "see it on the shelf at the library and pick it up" choice. I didn't know a lot about the Templars, except that they were fighting monks based in Jerusalem adhering to a modified rule, and that they'd been crushed by a French king looking for money. Oh, and there'd been some reference to them in The Maltese Cross.
Apparently fake history has been big business lately. Newman, lecturing about the daVinci Code's anti-history, was asked some questions about the Templars and realized she didn't have solid answers--hence this, which tells the history and refutes some of the more fat-headed conspiracy theories (such as the notion that they had hidden vaults with secret treasures).
Her format for the book is short, heavily footnoted(*) chapters written in a breezy style that doesn't sacrifice accuracy.
Short summary: The Templars were founded under the prodding, if not the aegis, of Bernard to fight to protect Christians against the Saracens. They were fighting men whose monastic rule allowed meat and more sleep and a lot more property (in form of horses and equipment) than secular monks, but they were still required to be obedient and chaste (no wives--I'd been mislead on that point) and otherwise poor. For some reason most of her reports of Templar battles involve them getting creamed, but I gather that wasn't usually the case. As they gained respect they found additional service as envoys. There were the Templars in the MidEast who did the fighting, and those back home who did the recruiting and fundraising and some training.
As the various Crusades failed under internal bickering and Muslim resurgence, eventually Jerusalem was lost, then more and more strongholds until nothing was left but islands.
Phillip the Fair of France arranged for their suppression on trumped-up charges. Since confession to absolution and penance was a fairly well-travelled path in case of charges of heresy and such, some Templars confessed to what are pretty plainly bogus offences. The Hospitalars got most of their property outside "France," and the Templars faded from the scene.
In the early 19'th century stories started getting about involving Templars as custodians of secret treasure or secret knowledge (Masonic), and the stories have been something of a growth industry since then.
I found this interesting, opening up some vistas on a period I'm not that familiar with, and easily read on the bus.
Read it.
(*) Footnotes often refer to primary sources so you can check her facts: something more speculative histories are reluctant to allow.
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