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The History of Alexander
The History of Alexander
Apr 15, 2025 12:54 AM

Author:Quintus Curtius Rufus,Waldemar Heckel,Waldemar Heckel,John Yardley

The History of Alexander

Alexander the Great (356-323 BC), who led the Macedonian army to victory in Egypt, Syria, Persia and India, was perhaps the most successful conqueror the world has ever seen. Yet although no other individual has attracted so much speculation across the centuries, Alexander himself remains an enigma. Curtius' History offers a great deal of information unobtainable from other sources of the time. A compelling narrative of a turbulent era, the work recounts events on a heroic scale, detailing court intrigue, stirring speeches and brutal battles - among them, those of Macedonia's great war with Persia, which was to culminate in Alexander's final triumph over King Darius and the defeat of an ancient and mighty empire. It also provides by far the most plausible and haunting portrait of Alexander we possess: a brilliantly realized image of a man ruined by constant good fortune in his youth.

Reviews

A journey into our own psyche ... Tim Pat Coogan has dug, Heaney-like, into the past while opening doors to faraway places

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It is the result of great energy, imagination and painstaking detective work ... It is a big book on a big topic. Don't just read it. Buy it and reread it

—— Irish Times

Vividly painted - A tour de force, delivered in Tim Pat Coogan's inimitable style

—— Ireland on Sunday

Brimming with life, colour, and yes, facts too

—— Daily Telegraph

Hoffman asks many questions, bringing a voice of reason to the irrational, reaching out for reconciliation

—— Sunday Times

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—— Literary Review

A top biography...This is great, grisly stuff and an education for anyone

—— Evening Standard

... This bright, engaging and breezy book ... suits the tenor of our times.

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A remarkable feat of documentary detail and novelistic vividness...an unfolding literary event

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—— Esquire

A remarkable work, awesome in its conception and execution... at one and the same time a novel, a documentary, a memoir, and a comic book. Brilliant, just brilliant

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Spiegelman's Maus changed comics forever. Comics now can be about anything

—— Alison Bechdel

Reading [his work] has been an amazing lesson in storytelling

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It can be easy to forget how much of a game-changer Maus was.

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