Alexander the Great

by Robin Lane Fox and Arthur Weigall

Book Overview

From award-winning historian Robin Lane Fox, Alexander the Great searches through the mass of conflicting evidence and legend to focus on Alexander as a man of his own time. Tough, resolute, fearless,... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0140088784
• ISBN13: 9780140088786
• Release Date: September 1994
• Publisher: Penguin Group
• Length: 576 Pages
• Weight: 0.63 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 5.1" x 7.7"

Customer Reviews

The Most Engaging Of The Alexander Biographies.

There is no shortage of books on Alexander The Great, but Robin Lane Fox supercedes them all with this grand, highly detailed and impressive work that manages to entertain, educate and excite the reader about the subject. One of the benefits of Fox's "Alexander The Great" is that he decides to do away with boring, repetitive structures and decides to use both the evidence but basic human experience to tell the tale of one of history's most fascinating kings. History, Fox explains, is motivated much by human emotion, passionate feeling aside from the usual politics. This gives his book a natural dramatic touch, it doesn't have the feel of a fictitious novel, but of a biography that really tries to explore Alexander and those around him as people. One of the disappointments in Paul Cartledge's recent biography is that he relies strictly on tablets and scrolls, and dismisses the human areas, creating characters that are cardboard cut-outs. To Cartledge everything is politics, all true relationships homosexual and any other intercourse purely done for politics' sake. Fox here gives us the portrait of a man driven by a need to discover, to reach the heights of Achilles, but also a haunted man, especially by his mother Olympias. The book is also well-detailed in the culture of the times and in his descriptions of landscapes and even home interiors, Fox manages to completely transport the reader to another time and place. Each chapter is richly detailed with not only the story of Alexander, but his influence on world history and leaders like Julius Caesar and Napoleon. We get fascinating myths, comments, tales of conspiracy and murder and one of the great interchanges of culture ever. Fox educates us about customs and rituals, beliefs and battle tactics in a work of enormous scope. It is an important thing to study the past to better understand the present. Once again we are in a time when the west is going into the east, the story of Alexander has never been more relevant. "Alexander The Great" is epic and exciting and should be sought out by anyone currently engaged in reading world history.

An excellent, balanced biography

Robin Lane Fox was only 27 when he wrote his biography of Alexander, but it's twice as good as many Alexander biographies written by authors who were twice Fox's age. Fox was a very young Oxford don when he researched and wrote this book, and his immaturity shows in a few spots when he makes assertions that seem to be based on "because I said so". But overall, it's a very, very well-researched and well-written biography that presents Alexander in a balanced light, being neither hagiography nor hatchet-job. It should be mentioned here that Fox's speculation that Philip's murder was probably masterminded by his wife Olympias was not original; it's specifically outlined in Mary Renault's "Fire From Heaven" and Renault is mentioned more than once as a resource in Fox's biography. (One might wonder why a biographer would list a historical novelist as a resource, but Renault scrupulously researched her own novels for historical accuracy before she published them.) The one jarring note in this book is Fox's substituting modern place names for historical names; it may be easier to look them up on a map but unless you already know that Ekbatana is the modern-day Hamadan, it gets a tad confusing. However, this is a minor cavil. Fox writes extremely well; his style carries you right along in the narrative, and there are voluminous footnotes for reference at the end of the book. One comes away somewhat awed that someone so young could have written such an excellent biography on one of history's most towering figures.

One of the very best!

There is a truly vast quantity of books, articles, and texts available on Alexander, and I have read as many as possible. Without a shadow of doubt I can recommend Lane Fox's effort as the best I have yet encountered (for Alexander buffs I include in that list of inferiors Badian, Tarn, Wilcken, Schackermeyr, Green - both of them - Hammond, Dodge, Engels, Bosworth, Hamilton, and Griffith to name but a few). Robin Lane Fox is rightly sceptical of sentimentality when dealing with his subject. Nor does he come to Alexander with his mind already inflexible and set on the King's more cotroversial aspects - a practice deplorably monotonous within the field. On ethical issues he keeps in mind the moral tone of the day - a habit that many modern historians would do well to engage in. He is rigorous in the extreme in his use of sources; he is analytical without being academic to the point of tediousness; and he deals with Alexander as a broad and complex human being - that is to say that he deals with the Macedonian as a ruler, a general, a lover, a patron of the arts, a drinker, a hunter, a reader of literature, a quester after glory, a figure of charisma, and also as a man of complexity and failings. It is in this last respect, his varied view of the Alexander, that he succeeds the most, for many of his biographers tend to concentrate on one aspect to the detriment of all others and consequently fail to give a rounded picture of the King. Lane Fox realises that oversimplifying the personalities of long dead figures does more to cloud them than to clarify them. For this he is to be commended highly. His style is lucid and often pithy. If at times you are lulled into thinking that you are reading a novel, don't be fooled; you are constantly bombarded with scrupulously researched information that is presented in the most easy going style. He gives excellent notes and a comprehensive bibliography at the back of the book for those who are interested in the finer details of source and analysis - some 60 pages of miniscule print. I gather that some have labelled this a 'boy's own account' of the ruler. That is quite simply not the case. It is far more competent AND FACTUALLY CORRECT than most of the more academic texts currently available. If you haven't read this one you simply don't know Alexander. P.S. - If you are coming to Alexander on foot of seeing or reading the recent Michael Woods effort (In the footsteps of A the G), disregard everything you heard. The BBC series was shallow, journalistic in the worst possible way, and on more occasions than one would like to believe was factually incorrect. Fox is by far the better historian. I reiterate, this is a must.

Superb Writing

This is an extraordinary history. Anyone expecting a conventional biography will be disappointed, since the biased and fragmentary nature of the primary sources makes modern biographical treatment for Alexander impossible, even more so than for other ancient heroes. However, one thing about the peripatetic conqueror that seems to be known with some certainty is the itinerary that defined his brief life. Starting from this, Mr. Lane Fox applies his own intimate knowledge of the middle and near-eastern landscape to create a book which, at its most basic, reads like a highly literate travelogue. This is all backdrop, though, for a kind of detective story as the author picks apart the tantalizing fragments of information and disinformation that, once boiled down, reveal for us Alexander's character. The bold military prodigy is clearly apparent here, but that's the standard textbook part of the story. Rounding out the picture, we see him as the cosmopolitan diplomat, beloved egalitarian leader-of-men, bisexual libertine, respectful supplicant to his gods, forgiving victor, gallant defender of women, ostentatious potentate, superstitious fool, charismatic orator, fearless in-the-trenches combat commander, wily tactician, boyish adventurer, child-like animal lover, sophisticated Greek intellectual, reckless gambler, visionary strategist, loyal and generous friend, bloody mass killer, and drunken lout. And the truly remarkable thing about the history is that all these persona somehow hang together, creating a believable portrait that makes it clear why Alexander has fascinated politicians, soldiers and scholars for twenty-three centuries. Stylistically, this book is dense and will deter casual readers. However, some patience through the early pages gives enough time to get into the exotic poetry of place names and the flow of the story. The turgid logic of the character study takes over from there, and the case unfolds majestically. This is a brilliant historian at work and I highly recommend the book.

Terrific!

As someone who reads few non-fiction books, particularly biography or history, I wasn't sure what to expect. However, since I wanted to learn more about Alexander, I thought this book appeared less intimidating than others. And what a great choice! An extremely enjoyable book that reads like a good novel, and, most importantly, you don't have to be a history buff to enjoy it.