Alexander

The ultimate historical adventure novel: the life of Alexander the Great in a single, epic volume. To many he was a god. To others he was a monster. The truth is even more extraordinary. As a boy, Alexander dreamed of matching the heroic feats of Achilles. At eighteen he led the Macedonian cavalry to a stunning victory against the Greeks. By twenty-five he had crushed the Persians in three monumental battles and was the master of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Men began to call him a god. But behind the legend was another, more complex story. Narrated by his boyhood friend Ptolemy, this is the story of Alexander as you have never heard it before: raw, intimate, thrilling - a story of extraordinary daring and unimaginable endurance; of wanton destruction and murderous intrigue - the epic tragedy of a man who aimed to be more than human.

The ultimate historical adventure novel: the life of Alexander the Great in a single, epic volume. To many he was a god. To others he was a monster. The truth is even more extraordinary. As a boy, Alexander dreamed of matching the heroic feats of Achilles. At eighteen he led the Macedonian cavalry to a stunning victory against the Greeks. By twenty-five he had crushed the Persians in three monumental battles and was the master of the greatest empire the world had ever seen. Men began to call him a god. But behind the legend was another, more complex story. Narrated by his boyhood friend Ptolemy, this is the story of Alexander as you have never heard it before: raw, intimate, thrilling - a story of extraordinary daring and unimaginable endurance; of wanton destruction and murderous intrigue - the epic tragedy of a man who aimed to be more than human.

'I really cannot overstate how fabulous this book is' DAILY MAIL 'Dazzling... This is biography of great brilliance and rare resonance' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE 'A pulsating, vivid life of a true historical titan' DAN JONES 'A splendid book, lively, erudite... where myth and heroism meet' RORY STEWART A stunningly written new biography of Alexander the Great, based on a series of important new discoveries and the author’s own translations of source material from twelve ancient languages. In 336 BCE, at the age of twenty, Alexander, a wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon , inherited a tumbledown kingdom, a pile of debts and an army which answered to nobody. Desperate to hold on to power, he led the army east, into the heart of the vast Persian Empire , and inadvertently began the greatest military campaign in history. The young man became a king, the king became a hero, the hero became a living god, and the god died aged thirty-two, broken-hearted in Babylon. For centuries, historians have told his story, yet Alexander has remained a mystery . But now, the ruins of his cities have emerged from the bottom of the sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered. The tombs of his ancestors have been unearthed. For the first time, instead of the legend, we can meet Alexander the man. Based on more than a decade of cutting-edge research, Alexander allows readers to feel the desert wind and experience the full horror of battle. Richardson’s research has taken him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. Alexander is a cinematic work of non-fiction: a revelatory retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.

'I really cannot overstate how fabulous this book is' DAILY MAIL 'Dazzling... This is biography of great brilliance and rare resonance' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE 'A pulsating, vivid life of a true historical titan' DAN JONES 'A splendid book, lively, erudite... where myth and heroism meet' RORY STEWART A stunningly written new biography of Alexander the Great, based on a series of important new discoveries and the author’s own translations of source material from twelve ancient languages. In 336 BCE, at the age of twenty, Alexander, a wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon , inherited a tumbledown kingdom, a pile of debts and an army which answered to nobody. Desperate to hold on to power, he led the army east, into the heart of the vast Persian Empire , and inadvertently began the greatest military campaign in history. The young man became a king, the king became a hero, the hero became a living god, and the god died aged thirty-two, broken-hearted in Babylon. For centuries, historians have told his story, yet Alexander has remained a mystery . But now, the ruins of his cities have emerged from the bottom of the sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered. The tombs of his ancestors have been unearthed. For the first time, instead of the legend, we can meet Alexander the man. Based on more than a decade of cutting-edge research, Alexander allows readers to feel the desert wind and experience the full horror of battle. Richardson’s research has taken him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. Alexander is a cinematic work of non-fiction: a revelatory retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.

'I really cannot overstate how fabulous this book is' DAILY MAIL 'Dazzling... This is biography of great brilliance and rare resonance' WILLIAM DALRYMPLE 'A pulsating, vivid life of a true historical titan' DAN JONES 'A splendid book, lively, erudite... where myth and heroism meet' RORY STEWART A stunningly written new biography of Alexander the Great, based on a series of important new discoveries and the author’s own translations of source material from twelve ancient languages. In 336 BCE, at the age of twenty, Alexander, a wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon , inherited a tumbledown kingdom, a pile of debts and an army which answered to nobody. Desperate to hold on to power, he led the army east, into the heart of the vast Persian Empire , and inadvertently began the greatest military campaign in history. The young man became a king, the king became a hero, the hero became a living god, and the god died aged thirty-two, broken-hearted in Babylon. For centuries, historians have told his story, yet Alexander has remained a mystery . But now, the ruins of his cities have emerged from the bottom of the sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered. The tombs of his ancestors have been unearthed. For the first time, instead of the legend, we can meet Alexander the man. Based on more than a decade of cutting-edge research, Alexander allows readers to feel the desert wind and experience the full horror of battle. Richardson’s research has taken him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. Alexander is a cinematic work of non-fiction: a revelatory retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.