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How Da Vinci Code became UK's biggest selling novel of all time
Ben Bailey15 Sep 2009
The Da Vinci Code became a worldwide phenomenon after its release in 2003, its success fuelling conspiracy theories and sparking two Hollywood movies - as well as some high-profile battling in court.
The book, which saw Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon investigate a murder in The Louvre museum in Paris, has sold more than 81 million copies worldwide and is the UK's biggest selling paperback novel of all time.
The book's popularity sparked huge interest in Dan Brown's previous novels - Angels and Demons, Deception Point and Digital Fortress, which became multi-million-copy international best-sellers.
They also spawned two hit movies. The film adaptation of The Da Vinci Code starring Tom Hanks was a worldwide number one hit, as was Angels and Demons, the adaptation of the first of Brown's thrillers featuring Langdon.
In 2006, the Da Vinci Code became the subject of a failed copyright court case.
Mr Justice Peter Smith presided over a lengthy hearing about the sources of the blockbuster book.
Michael Baigent and Richard Leigh, who wrote the 1982 book The Holy Blood and the Holy Grail, sued their mutual publisher, Random House, claiming that Brown had stolen their ideas.
This work, which explored the same theory as the Da Vinci Code that Jesus and Mary Magdalene married, had a child and the bloodline survives until the present day, enjoyed a ten-fold boost in sales following the high-profile legal battle.
The judge threw out the claim that Brown had copied ideas from their work.
In a further intriguing twist to the tale which would delight Brown's fans, it emerged that a secret code had been hidden in the judge's ruling.
Mr Justice Smith took a leaf out of Brown's global best-seller to hide his own message in the 71-page court document.
Italicised letters in the first seven paragraphs of the ruling spell out "Smithy Code".
The move to hide a message in a formal High Court judgment was thought to be unprecedented in legal history.
The message was later revealed to be a tribute to the judge's great hero - Admiral John "Jackie" Fisher.
Mr Justice Smith said he had inserted the code for his own amusement and it had nothing to do with the case.
While Brown's fans rush to snap up his work, they also appear pretty willing to give it away, as he was recently named Oxfam's "most donated" author at its chain of shops.
But Brown could take comfort from the dubious honour by knowing that his books are also flying off Oxfam's shelves, as the survey revealed him to be the charity's second most purchased author.
