Michael Beydjent
USABiography of Michael Baigent
Michael Baigent is a scandalously famous author of several books in the genre of alternative history, which is called "alternative history" in Russia. Born in 1948 in Christchurch, New Zealand, Baigent graduated from the university there, majoring in psychology. In his youth, he was interested in Eastern religions and traveled extensively throughout Asia. In 1976, he moved to the United Kingdom and has been living there ever since.
Collaboration and Controversy
In the United Kingdom, Baigent met Richard Leigh and Henry Lincoln. Together, they co-authored the bestseller "Holy Blood and Holy Grail," published in 1982. The work was presented as a scientific study, claiming that the Merovingian dynasty of Frankish kings descended from the descendants of Christ, with the secret being guarded by the Priory of Sion, an organization that became known in the 1950s. However, it was later proven that the "research" was a hoax. Nevertheless, Baigent and his co-authors repeated the same tactic in the book "The Messianic Legacy" (1987 edition).
In 1989, Baigent and Leigh began working together, publishing works such as "The Temple and the Lodge" (1989), "The Dead Sea Scrolls Deception" (1991), "Secret Germany: Claus Von Stauffenberg and the Mystical Crusade Against Hitler" (published in 1994), "The Inquisition" (published in 2000), and "The Elixir and the Stone: The Tradition of Magic and Alchemy" (2003).
Solo Works and Success
During these years, Baigent also wrote several books without co-authors, including "From the Omens of Babylon: Astrology and Ancient Mesopotamia" (published in 1994), "Ancient Traces: Mysteries in Ancient and Early History" (published in 1998), and "The Jesus Papers: Exposing the Greatest Cover-Up in History" (published in 2006). However, Baigent's most successful book remains "Holy Blood and Holy Grail." It gained renewed attention 23 years after its publication when Baigent and Leigh filed a lawsuit against Dan Brown, the author of "The Da Vinci Code," accusing him of plagiarism. The public's interest in the case against the author of the worldwide bestseller was so great that Random House republished "Holy Blood and Holy Grail."
