The Da Vinci Code is a controversial mystery/detective novel by US author Dan Brown, published in 2003 by Doubleday. It follows symbologistRobert Langdon as he investigates a murder in the Louvre, and discovers a battle between the Priory of Sion and Opus Dei over the possibility ofJesus having been married to and fathering children with Mary Magdalene.
This novel has provoked a popular interest in speculation concerning the Holy Grail legend and the role of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity. The novel has been extensively criticized by Catholics and other Christians as a dishonest attack on the Church. It has also been criticized for historical inaccuracy.
Dan Brown's novel was a major success in 2004 and at times it was outsold only by the highly popular Harry Potter series.[1] It spawned a number of offspring books and drew glowing reviews from the New York Times, People Magazine and the Washington Post.[2] It also re-ignited interest in the history of the Roman Catholic Church. Additionally, The Da Vinci Code, itself preceded by other Grail books such as The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail by Michael Baigent and others, and Umberto Eco's Foucault's Pendulum, has inspired a number of novels very similar to it, including Raymond Khoury's The Last Templar, and The Templar Legacy by Steve Berry.
It is a worldwide bestseller which had 60.5 million copies in print by May 2006 and has been translated into 44 languages. It is thought to be the 19th best-selling book of all time. Combining the detective, thriller and conspiracy fiction genres, the book is the second book by Dan Brown to include the character Robert Langdon, the first being his 2000 novel Angels and Demons. In November 2004 Random House published a "Special Illustrated Edition" with 160 illustrations.
In 2006, a film adaptation, The Da Vinci Code, was released by Columbia Pictures.
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