Dan Brown’s latest book The Lost Symbol reveals many Masonic Secrets. It also goes into great depth about the influence that Freemasonry had in the early days of the United States of America. As is usually the case, he did an exhaustive amount of background research before writing the book. This is always refreshing since a non-biased investigation of credible sources always brings to light the positive aspects of our order.

As most Masons will know, the fact that each Lodge is independent means that Freemasonry tends to evolve from lodge to lodge. Even lodges in the same area which meet in the same building will have peculiarities all their own. American Freemasonry is quite different from ours (which is more true to the original English version). However, it's still a very enjoyable read. I personally thought that The Da Vinci Code was better, but that may just be due to my familiarity with the subject matter.

The book has little to do with Freemasonry in Australia but, it must be said, it helped to raise public awareness of Freemasonry and Gary Adshead (from Channel 7 News) found it a useful introduction to his short examination into Freemasonry in Perth.

This video Benjamin Franklin: A simple charge to the fraternity is an excellent introduction into what Freemasonry is all about.  It was originally created for an American lodge but it's message is universal.

In a similar vein to the above, this video Benjamin Franklin: A Timely Chat With A New Freemason gives an excellent insight into the importance of morality in the life of a Freemason.