Reviews for In the Footsteps of Alexander The Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia

The average rating for In the Footsteps of Alexander The Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia based on 2 reviews is 3.5 stars.

Review # 1 was written on 2013-11-09 00:00:00 Chris Farrell This is the printed accompaniment to the television series of the same name. I can be truly objective, as I've never seen the telly portion, so this is reviewed as a stand-alone book. Given the many biographies about Alexander the Great, I was looking for something which integrated the countries and cultures he overran, so this seemed a good fit. While the reader gets the historical overview of Alexander's life and the wars he produced, one also gets a present-day travelogue which actually makes a rather nice combination. Every biographer seems to have their own perspective on their subject and Mr. Wood comes out on the Alexander-as-power-hungry side. He makes valid arguments and one walks away from this believing that Alexander was a bit of a corrupted maniac who, by the end of his short life, couldn't see the forest for the trees. The photographs and maps are appreciated, as I felt I was right there in the Hindu Kush or the Fortress of Hercules. For such a brief lifespan, I was struck by the lasting impact the young Macedonian made as he basically destroyed each nation he travelled through. Book Season = Autumn (Persian Gates)

Review # 2 was written on 2010-02-19 00:00:00 Marian Wagner This book was given me by Jim DeVoto, at that time a professor of Classics at Loyola University Chicago where I worked with his wife, Paula, in the part-time undergraduate division. Later, Jim and I would both work for the Ares Press and its journal, The Ancient World. Jim, a specialist in ancient Greek, especially Spartan, history, recommended both Wood's book and the documentary based on it as being substantially accurate, noting that this was unusual for popular works. And popular it is. This is a very accessible introduction to the life (and legend) of Alexander of Macedon.