Alexander the Great by Robin Lane Fox (PDF)

Description

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.

User’s Reviews

Reviews from Amazon users which were colected at the time this book was published on the website:

⭐Like most people, I had heard about Alexander in school, but did not know much in the way of detail. My main interest in history is Anglo-Saxon and medieval Britain and as that era is problematic to research from the dearth of contemporary material, I cannot imagine what a challenge researching the era of Alexander must be. This appears to be very well researched and the author provides some good discussion of the various and often conflicting sources. The narrative does meander quite a bit and I had some problems being able to focus on the salient parts, though this might be due to my ignorance of this ancient history. It might have been the Kindle application, but the maps were dark and difficult to read (color might have helped) and I was grateful for Google to be able to find information on some of these locations and ancient tribes. This is not an easy read, but I generally enjoyed it and gained some appreciation for who Alexander was and what he accomplished in his short life.

⭐This book is the 7th book I read on Alexander, and I find it the most thorough one. He looks at events and episodes from all sorts of different angles, both pro and con point of views, and write as many variations of stories as he could get on the same events. For example, on Alexander’s death, he writes 3 or 4 different versions told or written by different people back then. Some say the King was poisoned, collapsed during the drinking party, some say he died of unknown fever, some say this and some say that. Fox lists out all the possible versions on the same events, carefully examines them, and writes his comments with good common sense, keeping himself on the neutral ground. He rarely says this is what happened. It is for you to decide.He also added other information such as the way of life back then, the way different peoples thought, lived, believed, treated each other, religions, how they understood divinity and the way they fought in war, in addition to the geography, culture, medicine, plants, food, clothings in various areas of the empire back then. It is interesting to find how all these things affected and related Alexander and what he did.As he says in the beginning of the book, this is not a biography but a search of Alexander the Great. So, there’s no straight telling of what had happened.Fox’s insight is deep and thorough, makes you think. It’s not just a study of one man, but a study of human kind. But if you don’t have a logical mind, it may bore you, because sometimes he hangs onto one event, spending 3-4 pages sometimes even more on just one thing, to investigate. Very informational and powerful work.My only complaint is that this edition has such fine print, the font size is so small (probably size 6 or 7), and to read more than 500 pages with the kind of small print wears your eyes out. It made me realize that it’s about time for me to get bifocals. I strongly recommend this book, but keep a magnifier at hand, rest your eyes once in a while.

⭐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.

⭐I’m just a casual enthusiast of history, I am not a scholar or academic in this field. I have been a huge admirer of Alexander the Great since my childhood. I thought I would read this book on his life before the movie “Alexander” came out (which was awful by the way) just to see if the film was accurate in its portrayal. I don’t have nearly enough knowledge to dispute what the author wrote, whether this or that event actually happened or when a certain battle took place. The book gets a bit confusing at times since it is so detailed, but it really allows the reader to see all the power struggles and politics of the time. It’s not an easy book to read, but it’s very enlightening. I can see how it might be “too much” for some readers, such as myself. I felt it was a bit too indepth at times. The author does a good job at pointing out how one event may have been documented in two or more ways and usually states what really must have happened. The book also shows us a more personable side to Alexander, not just his accomplishments.

⭐The author knows a great deal about Alexander the Great. Unfortunately the story is lost in minutiae, such as the culture of tribesmen in inner Macedonia or some random Tomb (and all its history) that Alexander happened to pass by.If you want to know exactly everything about Alexander the Great this is probably a good book. But I couldn’t force myself through more than a 100 pages before I gave up. Just a heads up in case you were looking for an easy read.

⭐Couple of warnings about this book: Written in 1973, albeit with some revisions since, this is still a book where the majority of the text is heading towards being 40 years old. That in itself is not an issue (although some of the sections on homosexuality show a lot more of 70s sentiments than current thinking) as the book is detailed and well written.And that is the other warning: It is VERY detailed. Don’t expect a standardised history of Alexander, this is probably very close to the definitive detailed work and at times it can be hard going, but the expanse of detail makes it worthwhile.If you are starting out looking for a history of the man, I’d probably point you away from this, but if you have chewed your way through a good many histories and want something more, then this is definately for you.Well researched hardly describes it, but I do think casual readers will fall out within the first few chapters. Also as someone just about to graduate into their first pair of reading glasses along with their ‘everday’ specs, it is tightly printed so make sure you have some good specs handy!

⭐Robin Lane Fox, has spent all of his professional career…and it shows! He dumbs nothing down, therefore you the reader are expected to keep up. At the time the book was penned, his theories were both controversial and ground-breaking, and have divided and confounded, would-be Alexander theGreat scholars and professors alike ever since. As intense and thorough, as it is, insightful and thought provoking.

⭐A first class study of the life of Alexander the Great

⭐A must for all those interested in the history of that period.

Keywords

Free Download Alexander the Great in PDF format
Alexander the Great PDF Free Download
Download Alexander the Great 2006 PDF Free
Alexander the Great 2006 PDF Free Download
Download Alexander the Great PDF
Free Download Ebook Alexander the Great