Alexander … The Great?
25 May 05

Of all the kings and conquerors of antiquity, Alexander the Great is the most famous. A legend in his own lifetime, he has become a near-mythical figure. He conquered territories on a superhuman scale, fought scores of battles, established an empire which stretched from Greece to India. He was worshipped as a god by many of his subjects and became known as ‘Great'.

Yet at 33 he died, a paranoid alcoholic, corrupted by his lust for power, a megalomaniac who sacrificed the empire, which his father had fought to establish.

Alexander the Great: Man and God, published by Longman History, September 2004.

So just how great was Alexander? The one dimensional image of the conquering commander who enjoyed spectacular successes cannot give us the full picture. Widen your view and you will see the king, the man and the statesman – you will discover that this “great” man was wanting in many ways:

• How great is a king who prefers constant warfare over consolidating conquered territories and long-term administration?
• Does a man deserve to be called Great who was responsible for the deaths of tens of thousands of people?
• Who would now follow a commander whose recklessness often endangered his own and his men's lives and whose army mutinied on him – twice?
• How loyal could you be to a man whose violent temper on occasion led him to murder his friends?

This personal history is a fascinating account of Alexander the Great's colourful, but ultimately destructive life. It delves underneath the tales of epic heroism into the darker side of Alexander's personality, to question whether Alexander should be afforded the epithet ‘Great' or if he should be known as ‘Alexander the Accursed' as the Persians call him today.

Terry Jones (of Monty Python fame) says “Ian Worthington brings an immediacy to ancient history that is exciting and compelling. The characters live and breathe and there are many vivid moments of drama … that stay in the mind long after you have put the book down.”

	Alexander the Great: Man and God
	Author	Ian Worthington
	Pub Date	29 September 2004
	Price	£9.99
	ISBN	1405 80162 X
		Click here for further information or to purchase Alexander the Great: Man and God.

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