In 1982 Richard Leigh and Michael Baigent published two books; The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail based on their research into Jesus having a child. This idea was claimed to be stolen by Dan Brown, with his book of "The Da Vinci Code".

The plot of the novel involves a conspiracy by the Catholic church to cover up the true story of Jesus. Thus, helping to generate a popular interest in speculation concerning the role of Mary Magdalene in the history of Christianity and also the Holy Grail legend. 

But as fans call the book creative, action-packed and thought-provoking, this story has provoked many negative implications about the Catholic church.

Dan Brown claims that "all descriptions of artwork, architecture, documents, and secret rituals in this novel are accurate"; but this claim is disputed by academic scholars in the fields the book discusses

The Da Vinci code has been translated into 40 different languages and 30 million copies have been sold since the release in early March of 2003. The film will be released on 19th May, with Tom Hanks, Audrey Tautou and Sire Ian McKellen.