|
Biographical Note:
EDMUND RICHARDSON is Associate Professor of Classics at Durham University, UK. He is the author of
The King's Shadow (2022) and
Classical Victorians: Scholars, Scoundrels and Generals in Pursuit of Antiquity (2013), and was named one of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers in 2016.
Review Quotes:
"In this staggeringly good biography, Edmund Richardson reveals in riveting and sumptuous detail the real Alexander, the man behind the legend. Richardson has drawn on new sources from recent archeological discoveries, adding a real freshness to this millennia old story." --Daily Mail
"The breadth of Richardson's learning is perfectly suited to his subject's norm-shattering achievements. Brilliant erudition meets dynamic storytelling." --Kirkus, starred review
"Where Richardson excels, and perhaps introduces a new element into contemporary Alexander studies, is his sensitive use of ancient poems and archaelogical artifacts to highlight the mythic element in Alexander's strivings. Well worth reading for a new interpretation of a singularly important historical figure." --
Library Journal, starred review
"A rip-roaring cradle-to-(drunken)grave look at Alexander... This book, which combines analysis with good old-fashioned fun, offers a lesson in how history can be both academically ambitious and readable." --
The Economist
"Meticulously researched and dazzlingly written, Richardson's
Alexander is a triumph of scholarship and storytelling. The text is so lively, the insights so revealing, I felt as if I was reading about Alexander for the first time." --Toby Wilkinson, author of
The Last Dynasty: Ancient Egypt from Alexander the Great to Cleopatra
"A thrilling story, wonderfully told by one of the great historians." --Ken Follett
"A compelling account of one of history's greatest figures. Edmund Richardson has made full use of new discoveries in describing the life of Alexander, while conveying the tension and drama that accompanied his achievements and tragedies. Highly readable, enjoyable and authoritative." --William Hague
"A pulsating, vivid life of a true historical titan...In this marvellous book, [Alexander] has found a biographer with the scholarly insight and narrative verve to bring him thundering onto the page." --Dan Jones, bestselling author of
Henry V
"A splendid book, lively, erudite, steeped in the vast non-European world which Alexander encountered. A book where myth and heroism meet." --Rory Stewart
"Alexander rides again into battle in this dazzling new masterpiece... Impossibly colourful, wonderfully well written and drawing on some extraordinary new sources, this is a biography of great brilliance and rare resonance." --William Dalrymple,
Sunday Times bestselling author of
The Golden Road
Publisher Marketing:
"In this staggeringly good biography, Edmund Richardson reveals in riveting and sumptuous detail the real Alexander, the man behind the legend. Richardson has drawn on new sources from recent archeological discoveries, adding a real freshness to this millennia old story." --Daily Mail
An enthralling new biography of Alexander the Great, written as an intimate, present portrait of the way his world saw him and the price he paid to become history's greatest military mind.
Alexander the Great: a wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon who ruled most of the known world by his mid-twenties. For centuries, historians, refugees, poets, and explorers have told his story, and yet Alexander himself has remained a mystery.
But over the last few years, a series of remarkable discoveries has changed everything. From the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides, the remains of Alexander's cities have emerged. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered. The tombs of his ancestors have been unearthed. Now, for the first time since antiquity, it is possible to tell a different story. The story of a young man whom almost no-one noticed, until the day he became king. A king who became a hero, a hero who became a living god, and a god who died broken-hearted in Babylon.
Using cutting-edge research and a unique narrative approach,
Alexander thrusts readers into Alexander the Great's world in ways which have never before been possible: to see the same stars wheeling overhead, feel the desert wind, and experience the full horror of battle.
Alexander is a cinematic work of non-fiction, a revelatory retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.
Review Citations:
-
Library Journal 07/01/2026 pg. 66 (EAN 9781250285614, Hardcover) - *Starred Review
Contributor Bio:Richardson, Edmund
Edmund Richardson is Professor of Classics at Durham University, UK. He has published
The King's Shadow and
Classical Victorians: Scholars, Scoundrels and Generals in Pursuit of Antiquity (2013), and was named one of the BBC/AHRC New Generation Thinkers in 2016.
|
