Greece Books

Richard Stoneman examines, not the actual life of Alexander, but his afterlife in the legends of a wide variety of cultures. The book is book is both scholarly and entertaining, and seductive just to dip into. The tales themselves are fascinating. If you've ever wondered about the many works of art, cropping up in unexpected places (and well illustrated here), showing Alexander exploring the deep in a diving bell, or ascending into the sky in a flying machine drawn by winged griffins, or encountering the oracular tree of heads, this will furnish an explanation. An essential for those interested in Alexander, or in ancient history and its effects on the later imagination, or in the genesis of comparative legend and folklore.

Ladybird history books are social history at it's best, from; I would estimate ages 8 to 14 for school use of simply to enjoy. They bring history alive for children, and are filled with fascinating information. As well as bringing alive an animated, exciting past, they also show how events of the past, are with us today, in so many fascinating ways

Alexander the Great, by L Du Garde Peach, traces the life of a man lived more than two thousand years ago, he was one of history's great soldiers, who created an Empire stretching from Macedonia to India.

The book traces his boyhood education by Aristotle, his military campaigns and conquests (with the aid of a map in the inner covers) and his Empire-building and trade.

It is both fascinating and educational , with superb illustrations by Andrew Kenny.

This book might be boring, but it does help with research projects! I am doing a report on Alexander the Great, and this book told me about his conquests and adventures. I recomend this as a research book. It might not be that great of a freetime book unless you like lots of dates and stuff.

Having now read 40+ books about Alexander, I didn't expect this title to offer anything new or insightful, but I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the scholarship and thoughtful prose contained in this book. I was initially a little disappointed browsing through the book as I was hoping for some new graphics, maps and illustrations that I had not seen before, but I suppose that was wishful thinking. Once I sat down and actually started reading the text, I began to enjoy the contents and writing of Sheppard. She has done a great job of assimilating tons of academia about Alexander's amazingly eventful history and condensing it in a way that is easy to absorb and understand.

The book provides a very thorough background of Alexander's era - both in Greece/Macedonia as well as Persia and western Asia. An understanding of this historical background goes a long way in understanding why Alexander embarked on his unprecedented campaign to conquer the known world and reach the end of the world in the east. The strength of this book is the wealth of detail divulged by Sheppard while remaining clear and lucid and not getting dragged down by high-browed academia. In short, the book is fun to read and you'll learn a lot at the same time.

This book mainly focuses on the military aspects of Alexander's career and that's a good thing: that's what he was best at. He was a good statesman, diplomat, logistician, etc. and he was good and not so good at many other things, but if there is one thing that both pro-Alexander and anti-Alexander schools of thought can agree on, it's his military genius. Alexander's genius is comparable to that of creative and scientific geniuses ranging from Leonardo DaVinci to Isaac Newton and Ludwig van Beethoven to Albert Einstein. Alexander's battles ("masterpieces") are studied in military academies all around the world in the same way Beethoven's symphonies are studied in music conservatories. It's this aspect of Alexander that the book explores and it delivers.

Anyone who has studied Alexander the Great knows that he is an allusive historical figure. The primary sources do not help the inquiring historian due to their very nature. The historian has only very reliable Arrian and the questionable vulgate of Curtius Rufus, Diodorus and Justin's epitome of Pompeius Trogus with all its idiosyncracies. Anyone trying to tackle the primary sources as an introduction to Alexander historiography is in for a mind-boggling puzzle. That is why the Oxford University Press' "Alexander the Great in Fact and Fiction" is so useful and a valuable addition to to any Alexander the Great fanatic's library. The book's usefulness derives from it scope in addressing various issues in Alexander historiography. Take a look at the table of contents and you will see distinguished scholars like Ernst Badian and Ernst Fredricksmeyer tackle the issues for the novice historian. In all I am please with the production and academic quality of the book. I would recommend it to anyone interested in expanding upon their layman knowledge of Alexander the Great!!

Alexander the Great in His World by Carol G. Thomas is a lucid narrative of Alexander's times, about which a reconstruction of Alexander is attempted, and it could be said that it has been achieved. Points of divergence are always present, but this is a worthwhile book on Alexander whose focus is on the then forces which molded him accordingly.

The general story of Alexander is well known. After taking over from his dead father at the age of sixteen he gained control of first the rest of Greece, they he defeated the Persian empire on his way to Northern India.

The author is Lecturer in Strategic Studies at the University of Reading, England. He brings an insight to Alexander's battles that is lacking in similar reports from other writers. He is able to look at Alexanders contributions to combined arms operations, to the effective use of non-Greek forces, the use of a navy when required.

During the twelve years Alexander campaigned he fought a wide variety of enemies from fortified cities, calvary, various kinds of infantry with varying combat styles. Alexander was successful against them all. What made him the most successful general of all time?

Alexander the Great, was born on or around July 20, 356 B.C.E., and is my favorite personality to read about in history. To me he is the whole package general, statesman, conqueror, and philosopher. The smartest man who ever lived, Aristotle, tutored him. Alexander conquered more of the known world than any other figure in history, accomplishing all this before he dies at the ripe old age of 33. Some people called him conqueror and violent overlord. Some other called him civilizer and even God! All of them yet, called him "The Great". He was the first man in modern history that took this name, "The Great"! Even as a young boy, he shows great promise.

Curtius' work is the oldest extant work available and based on eyewitness accounts. He does a better job than most in explaining the battle scenes, and seems to be more balanced in his admiration and criticism of Alexander then any of the other early biographers. I love his Bucephalus Story, and I recount it here so you get a flavor of the promise this young Alexander shows.

The legend begins with Philoneicus, a Thessalian, bringing a wild horse to Philip for him to buy. None of the hands was able to handle it, and Philip grew upset at Philoneicus for bringing such an unstable horse to him. Alexander, however, publicly defied his father and claimed that he could handle the horse. The bet between Philip and Alexander was that if Alexander could ride the horse, Philip would buy it, if not, Alexander would have to pay the price of the horse, which was 13 talents, an enormous sum for a boy of Alexander's age to have.

Alexander apparently noticed that the horse had been shying away from its own shadow, and so he led it gently into the sun, so that its shadow was behind it, all the while stroking it gently and whispering into its ear, (Alexander seems to be the original horse whisperer). Eventually the horse let Alexander mount him, and Alexander was able to show his equestrian skill to his father and all who were watching. The incident so impressed Alexander's father, King Philip that he told the boy "Look thee out a kingdom equal to and worthy of you, for Macedonia is too little for thee". He named the horse Bucephalus, which means Ox head, and rode it across Asia, founding a city in its honor in India after its death. This story gives you an inkling about the man.

This book is a must read for students of Alexander, I also recommend Plutarch's and Arrian's work. Contemporary writers, J.F. C. Fuller and Tarn. Most of Alexander's greatest military traits are in the area of military logistics and to understand his genius in this area I highly recommend reading, "Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army," by Donald W. Engels.

As a retired U. S. Army Major, I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in ancient warfare, and history.

This is perhaps the best overview of Alexander that I have read. The author looks at the various sources and gives a cogent analysis of where they stand and why we should pay attention to them. She also looks at the development of the 'mythological' aspects of how we look at the great king.

Highest rating possible from me.

In this well organized and information filled study on Late Antique Alexandria, Haas presents a city second only to Rome in population(probably) which surpassed Rome in education and perhaps culture. While his title would lead you to believe that there are a lot of maps, most of the topographical references deal with intercoommunal conflict and travel systems within the city. He admits that no one really knows exactly what the city looked like since archaelogical excavations are very difficult to undertake in modern day Alexandria.
The strengths of the book are in the vast amount of knowledge presented on the christian community and also in shedding new light on the intercommunal conflict. He does not take the position that intercommunal violence was the norm. My only criticisms of the book are a lack of a true bibliography, though there are extensive endnotes and also that he does not do enough with Paganism and especially Judaism in late antique Alexandria although that is mostly due to the lack of primary sources. Do not expect this book to talk about Alexandria in the wider context of Late Antiquity. Although there is some mention of Alexandria's extensive shipping industry and trading connections, most of the work deals with events that took place within Alexandria. A must have book for those interested in Late Antiquity, Roman Egypt, or Roman cities.