Book Review: In Footsteps of Alexander the Great
In Footsteps of Alexander the Great on amazon.com
Salaams! Went to see the recent movie by Oliver Stone and then had to read a book to learn more and so read In Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia, by Michael Wood (an accompanying BBC 4-hour program is also available).
Reading Rating: 8.5 (of 10)
Thoroughly enjoyed this read and highly recommend it. The book has great maps of Alexander's routes/battles as well as wonderful photographs and illustrations of modern-day Alexander sites and archeological evidence.
Based on the most reliable early sources, the author spent months retracing the incredible 6+ year journey of Alexander II of Macedon (known both as "the Great" and "the Accursed"), as he rampaged through modern-day Turkey, Syria, Lebanon, Egypt, Iraq, Iran, Afghanistan, Uzbekistan, and Pakistan/India. Against all odds, Alexander and his Macedonian troops (using the dreaded phalanx and a variety of innovative siege weapons) defeated the mighty Persian Empire (Darius III), subjugating lands and peoples across the then-known world, while catalyzing unique Hellenistic-Eastern cultural mixes in the wake of his conquests.
Amazing how many places--still to this day--have either archeological evidence or legendary, still passed-on stories of Alexander's conquests. Amazing what was accomplished in his short 32-year life.
I'm looking forward to both seeing the book's accompanying BBC program (on DVD now) and to reading a more in-depth historical treatment of Alexander's feats (Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C., by Peter Green).
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In the Footsteps of Alexander The Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia
by Michael Wood

18 used & new from $9.41
Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
Intrepid explorer in search of the past, British journalist Michael Wood follows the path of Alexander the Great and his army from Macedonia to the Himalayas and beyond in the fourth century B.C. Always one for adventures to match those of his heroes, Wood takes his readers over harsh deserts and snow-clogged passes, stopping off at interesting places along the way: a Zoroastrian temple in Iran, for instance, where we learn that Alexander is regarded as a devil and called Iskander Gujaste , Alexander the Accursed. Devil or no, Wood allows us to appreciate Alexander for the daring of his enterprise: his conquest of southwestern Asia occupied 22,000 miles and two decades.
Product Description:
Between 334 and 324 B.C. the Macedonian army, led by Alexander the Great, marched relentlessly across Asia. An event of bravery and cruelty, endurance and greed, Alexander's expedition was a turning point in human history. His conquest opened up contacts between Europe and Asia, unleashing astonishing historical energies that continue to affect the world today. This extraordinary book recreates Alexander's 22,000 mile, ten-year expedition from Greece to India, following as much as possible the actual route of his journey. Historian Michael Wood traversed seventeen countries, trekking through the Zagros Mountains to find the lost site of Alexander's battle at the "Persian Gates," drinking black tea in the Hindu Kush, listening to ancient stories of Sikander e Aazem, and crossing the Makran Desert with twenty-three camels. He traveled with Lebanese traders, Iranian pilgrims, Afghan guerrillas, and other local people on a journey that took him through many of the twentieth century's major trouble spots, including Beirut and Kurdistan.
Wood bases his account of Alexander's conquest on the texts of Greek and Roman historians, but he also reconsiders the Greek adventure in terms of modern ideas on colonialism, orientalism, and racism. The Macedonian conquest, which has mainly been seen through Greek sources, is illuminated for the first time by medieval travelers' narratives, newly discovered oracles, and prophecies on papyrus or clay tablet.
At the heart of Wood's powerful story is the towering, enigmatic character of Alexander the Great. He ascended the throne at twenty, conquered much of the known world before he was thirty, and was dead by the age of thirty-two. A ruthless politician, brilliant military tactician, devoted son, family man, lover of both women and men, Alexander was known for his extreme generosity as well as his ferocious cruelty. Following in the conqueror's footsteps centuries later, Michael Wood overhears the words of the fabled Greek mermaid who calls to passing sailors: "Great Alexander still lives!"
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Link to NPR interview with author Michael Wood:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=1000875
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In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia
by Michael Wood
University of California Press
Due/Published: August 2001, 256 pages, paper
ISBN 0520231929
Between 334 and 324 B.C. the Macedonian army, led by Alexander the Great, marched relentlessly across Asia. An event of bravery and cruelty, endurance and greed, Alexander's expedition was a turning point in human history. His conquest opened up contacts between Europe and Asia, unleashing astonishing historical energies that continue to affect the world today. This extraordinary book recreates Alexander's 22,000 mile, ten-year expedition from Greece to India, following as much as possible the actual route of his journey.
Historian Michael Wood traversed seventeen countries, trekking through the Zagros Mountains to find the lost site of Alexander's battle at the "Persian Gates," drinking black tea in the Hindu Kush, listening to ancient stories of Sikander e Aazem, and crossing the Makran Desert with twenty-three camels. He traveled with Lebanese traders, Iranian pilgrims, Afghan guerrillas, and other local people on a journey that took him through many of the twentieth century's major trouble spots, including Beirut and Kurdistan.
Wood bases his account of Alexander's conquest on the texts of Greek and Roman historians, but he also reconsiders the Greek adventure in terms of modern ideas on colonialism, orientalism, and racism. The Macedonian conquest, which has mainly been seen through Greek sources, is illuminated for the first time by medieval travelers' narratives, newly discovered oracles, and prophecies on papyrus or clay tablet.
At the heart of Wood's powerful story is the towering, enigmatic character of Alexander the Great. He ascended the throne at twenty, conquered much of the known world before he was thirty, and was dead by the age of thirty-two. A ruthless politician, brilliant military tactician, devoted son, family man, lover of both women and men, Alexander was known for his extreme generosity as well as his ferocious cruelty. Following in the conqueror's footsteps centuries later, Michael Wood overhears the words of the fabled Greek mermaid who calls to passing sailors: "Great Alexander still lives!"
"British historian Wood (The Magician's Doubts, 1995, etc.) absorbingly recreates Alexander the Great's epic conquests. Alexander ascended the Macedonian throne at the age of 20, conquered much of the world known to the ancients by 30, and died aged 32. Born in 356 B.C., Alexander was shaped by barbarian and classical forces: His mother, Olympias, was intensely devoted to strange religious cults, but Alexander was tutored by one of the great philosophers of all time, Aristotle. When Alexander succeeded to the throne in 336 B.C. after his father's assassination, he became the master of a kingdom that already dominated a Greece exhausted by the war between Athens and Sparta. Shortly after becoming king, he ruthlessly suppressed an uprising by the city of Thebes, then invaded Persia, Greece's ancient enemy. Wood retraces Alexander's astounding victories over Darius at Granicus and Issus; his easy victories over Phoenicia and Egypt, where the oracle of Zeus declared him "son of God" and where he founded Alexandria, destined to become one of the great cities of the ancient world; his invasion of Babylonia and his completion of the destruction of Darius' army at Arbela and Persepolis; and subsequent conquests of central Asia and India. Wood meditates on the transformed landscape of Alexander's world, his frequent atrocities (like the sacking of Persepolis and the massacre of the Branchidae), and his lasting legacy of destruction. To this day, in many countries Alexander touched, the name Iskander is a byword for destruction, ambition, and greed. Nonetheless, Wood points out, although Alexander's conquests were transient and his empire short-lived, his rule was a critical turning point for the ancient world, generating creative energies and contacts between East and West that would never have occurred otherwise. Wood has thoughtfully recreated one of ancient history's most fascinating periods.-- Kirkus Reviews)
"Relying on Greek and Roman sources, Wood tells a glorious story with some very dark shadows . . . The harrowing tale of his own trek over the same ground makes clear how heroic Alexander's army was. And in a dozen countries, in cities and villages, in desert camps and on mountains of the Hindu Kush, he found that Alexander is fiercely alive in poetry, songs, and folk tales, in the imaginations of millions." (New York Times Book Review)
"In his passion for history, Michael Wood likes to search out those corners of time that survive more as romantic myth than as reliable memory, that float in the past seemingly unconnected to the world as we know it . . . Naturally, like any researcher, he delights in discovering the unknown, yet his objective is not academic. Rather it is to spread his enthusiasm for history to as many people as possible." (New York Times)
"This is a marvelous adventure and a delicious taste of history." (Publishers Weekly)
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you're taking up too much room."
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