Alexander the Great: Unofficial Movie Tie-In

What boy hasn't imagined being Alexander the Great? Conquering one of the largest empires ever by the age of 32, the man has been stamped indelibly upon our collective memory as one of the greatest warriors ever. That he was for sure, but much more besides as well.

This very detailed biography delves into all aspects of Alexander, and it's evident on every page and in every sentence that Robin Lane Fox has studied his subject extremely well. Couple that with Fox's easy style and what you get is a real page-turner. Learned and yet accessible, what more could one expect from a history book? Extremely well done!

Humanising the myth (11/11 people found this helpful)

Oxford historian Robin Lane Fox has written a superb biography of one of history's most mythologised characters.

Fox never patronises his audience with his writing style but neither does he make any assumptions that the reader is pre-armed with a firm grasp of classical history. He clearly explains where he gets his sources from, who he trusts, if there are conflicting accounts and where his judgements lie.

The book relates an epic story and Fox tells it in great detail; normally, the more detail a book provides, the better but in this particular case, the book loses one star in its rating because Fox's sentences can run to great lengths and become rather muddy (I'd give it four and a half if I could). Don't let that put you off buying this book, though, as it animates quite successfully Alexander's life and times, the politics and the geography. This book is especially recommended to those of you who have Oliver Stone's film, Alexander Revisited, to which Robin Lane Fox was an advisor.

Alexander The Great - Highly Recommended (25/25 people found this helpful)

I have not studied Classics and I had never read a biography of Alexander before but I could not put this book down. It was detailed and inspiring and I will be buying copies for friends. It is more than a biography, it is a tale of true adventure, war, bravery and leadership. I felt the author helped me, the reader, live in the times of Alexander. At the same time he reminded me that I was reading a historical chronical that was based on pieces of information that had been passed down or preserved. He distinguished between educated assumptions and facts, so I trusted him as an historian. The adventure and times as depicted in the book are thrilling and I recommend it highly.

Not for the beginner (31/34 people found this helpful)

To start, the good things about this book. It's very detailed. It questions and evaluates historical sources. It doesn't over-romanticise Alexander. Most importantly, it gives the impression of being very reliable, scholarly, and unprejudiced. I would recommend it strongly for these reasons alone - there seem to be lots of books out there which lack any of these desirable qualities.
But be warned.....there are some not so good things.
First, the language in which the book is written is unduly complex - lots of double negatives, very involved sentences, etc. I simply don't think this is good writing: admittedly the events being discussed are complex, but surely even the most complex concept or event can be expressed using simple, accessible, language? This rather gave me the impression that the author's primary ambition was to show off his (obviously considerable) scholarship, rather than to spread enlightenment.
Second, the maps really aren't particulary useful. They are small, dark, and difficult to read. So the geography is rather baffling - unless of course you already have considerable knowledge of the ancient world, or an atlas of it to hand.
Third, for the beginner it's easy to get bogged down in the level of detail. There's little sense of a wood, or even of the outlines of one, just of thousands of trees.
Fourth - so MUCH military history! Endless pages about chariots and spears. I did find these a little dull, though I'm sure that's an unfair criticism - peoples' tastes differ.
Overall, I found this book difficult to finish - although having done so, I know a lot more about Alexander and his world than I did before. I imagine that it's a very rewarding book for someone who already has an overview of the subject - but perhaps it's not the best introduction to it. I think I'll need to read another, more basic, book.

A masterful stody of one of history's greatest generals (73/78 people found this helpful)

Lane Fox is a brilliant writer, whose superb execution of the English language in this book is a joy to read. One of the most realistic appraisals of Alexander's life and achievements that I have read: he dispels many of the myths surrounding the young Macedonian king that have been perpetuated by later authors - particularly the Romans. Lane Fox attacks the source material with gusto, and clearly demonstrates the bias and economy with the truth perpertrated by some of his original biographers (e.g. Ptolemy). It is fascinating to learn how the rivalries of his Successors and the conceit of Roman writers have obscured much of the truth about Alexander. Still, Lane Fox gives credit where it is due, and for anyone interested in reading about one of the greatest adventures of all time, this one is a brilliant effort.

Alexander the Great: Unofficial Movie Tie-In

Robin Lane Fox

Reader Reviews:

Magnificent (0/0 people found this helpful)

Humanising the myth (11/11 people found this helpful)

Alexander The Great - Highly Recommended (25/25 people found this helpful)

Not for the beginner (31/34 people found this helpful)

A masterful stody of one of history's greatest generals (73/78 people found this helpful)

Similar Products

Categories