Symbologist Robert Langdon, summoned to Washington, D.C. by his mentor, finds himself plunged into a clandestine world of Masonic secrets, hidden history, and secret locations--all of which seem to be dragging him toward a single, inconceivable truth.

"Seventeen traditional American and Chinese songs are written in artist Xu Bing's signature Square Word Calligraphy"--

"Archaeologist Genevieve von Petzinger looks past the horses, bison, ibex, and faceless humans in the ancient paintings and instead focuses on the abstract geometric images that accompany them. She offers her research on the terse symbols that appear more often than any other kinds of figures-- signs that have never really been studied or explained until now"--