Alexander the Great

Robin Lane Fox

Jul 2006 · Penguin UK

About this eBook

Tough, resolute, fearless, Alexander was a born warrior and ruler of passionate ambition who understood the intense adventure of conquest and of the unknown. When he died in 323 BC aged thirty-two, his vast empire comprised more than two million square miles, spanning from Greece to India. His achievements were unparalleled - he had excelled as leader to his men, founded eighteen new cities and stamped the face of Greek culture on the ancient East. The myth he created is as potent today as it was in the ancient world. Robin Lane Fox's superb account searches through the mass of conflicting evidence and legend to focus on Alexander as a man of his own time. Combining historical scholarship and acute psychological insight, it brings this colossal figure vividly to life.

Ratings and reviews

Fox says it himself, this is less a biography than a search for who Alexander was. At about a dozen key moments Fox kind of stops the narrative and delves into analysis of an event, searching for unknowable truths. Often insightful. This is a good book if interested on Alexander, maybe leave it if you want an easy read or perhaps get another book under your belt first before this one.

World's no.1 conqueror is hazrat Umar bin al khattab ( r.a ).

About the author

Robin Lane Fox is Emeritus Fellow of New College, Oxford, and was until 2014 Reader in Ancient History in Oxford University. He is the author of Pagans and Christians (1986), The Unauthorised Version (1992) and many books on classical history, including Alexander the Great (1973), The Classical World (2005) and Travelling Heroes (2008), all of which have been widely translated. He has been the gardening correspondent of the Financial Times since 1970.