Non-fiction book reviews - general
Posted: Mon May 15, 2023 12:12 pm
NON-FICTION BOOK REVIEWS – GENERAL
Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, Partha Bose, Gotham, 2003, 287 p.
Reviewer: Nick Welman
If your prime interest is Alexander: skip this one. If you just want to read a fun book about modern management: well, OK. The book's subtitle reads: "The Timeless Leadership Lessons of History's Greatest Empire Builder". Now even the greatest fans of Alexander's campaigns might feel a little hesitant seeing their hero portrayed as an "empire builder". Alexander took over an epic & ancient empire, yes, and he might be unsurpassed as a conqueror, right. But he didn't forge an empire from scratch. This sets the overall tone of this book by Partha Bose. His history of Alexander is twisted and adapted to suit the needs of the author. His Alexander just serves as the vehicle to score points and statements about how to run a modern business company. Historical facts presented by Bose are not always very accurate. The author just as easily switches the scene from Alexander's siege of Halicarnassus to present day management courses at Harvard University within just a few short paragraphs. If you think you would understand more of Alexander by reading this book: forget it.
The Alexandria Project, Stephan Schwartz, Dell Publishing, 1983
Reviewer: Forum Contributor
Being a person of open mind, I am more than willing to read almost anything- even the adventures of psychics seeking the remains of Alexander by alternative routes. This book I leave to the individual to take or leave at face value. It has some interesting bits, anyway, and is sure to please those who so desperately want to believe that we will someday have an opportunity to explore the DNA of Alexander. If nothing else, such books are an amusing read for a free afternoon.
Alexander the Great Rocks the World by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Illustrated by Terry Naughton, Darby Creek Publishing
Reviewer: Karen Wehrstein
This attractive and beautifully-packaged book is a biography of the Alexander the Great, intended for kids of 11 and up. Chock-full of information and illustrations, even-handed and honest about debated aspects, and written to engage the young reader, it's a great introduction, so to speak, to the study of Alexander.
Shecter tells the conqueror's story in a fast-paced and lively style, with frequent injections of humor ("Alexander's mummified body was on its way back to Greece when Ptolemy snatched it... and named himself pharaoh. So you could say that Ptolemy stole Egypt over Alexander's dead body.") For the sake of her youthful audience she weaves in current popular references ("King Darius served the Dark Lord Sauron and sought the One Ring that would give him power over the hobbits and Middle-earth. Oh, wait. Wrong story.")
There is the odd error; Macedon is called a "powerful city," for instance, and the pedagogue Leonidas is placed as Spartan, though Plutarch identified him as related to Alexander's mother, who was from Epiros. The author often presents one version or interpretation of events for which more than one alternative is extant, so as to keep the story moving, so that the dedicated Alexandrophile who disagrees with ones she chose might regard them as inaccurate. But aside from that, Shecter is careful about separating fact from legend, clearly labelling the latter as such.
If you're not ready to raise with your child the issue of Alexander's sexuality, and homosexual customs of the ancient Greeks in general, you need not worry. The matter is sidestepped; Alexander and his longtime lover Hephaistion are presented as "inseparable" best friends from childhood; the special attribute of the Sacred Band of Thebes is given as "each fighter swore to fight to the death rather than lose," rather than its being comprised of male couples.
Illustrations not only include the cartoon-like, motion-filled drawings of Terry Naughton and the obligatory maps, but reproduced images including a few I've never seen before. Sidebars containing quotes or other related informational nuggets abound, designed to draw in young readers and create a feel for Alexander's world, so different from their own. And yet some things never change; as a parent you might appreciate the sayings, from notables of the time, that pepper the book, such as: "those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly," or "Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but deserving them." In fact, Shecter makes a parable of Alexander's whole story, as neatly encapsulated on the cover blurb: "Ego can make a great leader -- but ego can break one, too." Maybe I'm old-fashioned and crotchety -- and it hasn't been proven to my satisfaction that ego was indeed Alexander's downfall -- but I personally feel kids these days don't hear messages like these enough.
Rather than choosing one side or the other in the great debate of Alexander's character, and setting it down as gospel, Shecter sets out both sides a chapter entitled "Hero -- or Monster?" (aptly accompanied by a Naughton drawing of flaxen-curled Alexander with the proverbial angel shouting into one ear, and devil into the other). I applaud the author's invitation to youngsters to consider, think and debate, rather than unquestioningly accept one interpretation. I also like it when an adult is honest enough to tell a child, "Some things... we just don't know. And probably never will." No biography of Alexander can be truthful and not say that.
Alexander the Great Rocks The World even has readable endnotes, which might well be a young reader's first introduction to this scholarly convention, and a decent index.
All in all, even though I left Shecter's targeted age-group behind a long time ago, I enjoyed it. As other authors have noted, Alexander, being eternally youthful himself, holds a particular attraction for the young. Through works like this, they can be drawn into the broadening and deepening of the mind that comes with learning history.
Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy, Partha Bose, Gotham, 2003, 287 p.
Reviewer: Nick Welman
If your prime interest is Alexander: skip this one. If you just want to read a fun book about modern management: well, OK. The book's subtitle reads: "The Timeless Leadership Lessons of History's Greatest Empire Builder". Now even the greatest fans of Alexander's campaigns might feel a little hesitant seeing their hero portrayed as an "empire builder". Alexander took over an epic & ancient empire, yes, and he might be unsurpassed as a conqueror, right. But he didn't forge an empire from scratch. This sets the overall tone of this book by Partha Bose. His history of Alexander is twisted and adapted to suit the needs of the author. His Alexander just serves as the vehicle to score points and statements about how to run a modern business company. Historical facts presented by Bose are not always very accurate. The author just as easily switches the scene from Alexander's siege of Halicarnassus to present day management courses at Harvard University within just a few short paragraphs. If you think you would understand more of Alexander by reading this book: forget it.
The Alexandria Project, Stephan Schwartz, Dell Publishing, 1983
Reviewer: Forum Contributor
Being a person of open mind, I am more than willing to read almost anything- even the adventures of psychics seeking the remains of Alexander by alternative routes. This book I leave to the individual to take or leave at face value. It has some interesting bits, anyway, and is sure to please those who so desperately want to believe that we will someday have an opportunity to explore the DNA of Alexander. If nothing else, such books are an amusing read for a free afternoon.
Alexander the Great Rocks the World by Vicky Alvear Shecter, Illustrated by Terry Naughton, Darby Creek Publishing
Reviewer: Karen Wehrstein
This attractive and beautifully-packaged book is a biography of the Alexander the Great, intended for kids of 11 and up. Chock-full of information and illustrations, even-handed and honest about debated aspects, and written to engage the young reader, it's a great introduction, so to speak, to the study of Alexander.
Shecter tells the conqueror's story in a fast-paced and lively style, with frequent injections of humor ("Alexander's mummified body was on its way back to Greece when Ptolemy snatched it... and named himself pharaoh. So you could say that Ptolemy stole Egypt over Alexander's dead body.") For the sake of her youthful audience she weaves in current popular references ("King Darius served the Dark Lord Sauron and sought the One Ring that would give him power over the hobbits and Middle-earth. Oh, wait. Wrong story.")
There is the odd error; Macedon is called a "powerful city," for instance, and the pedagogue Leonidas is placed as Spartan, though Plutarch identified him as related to Alexander's mother, who was from Epiros. The author often presents one version or interpretation of events for which more than one alternative is extant, so as to keep the story moving, so that the dedicated Alexandrophile who disagrees with ones she chose might regard them as inaccurate. But aside from that, Shecter is careful about separating fact from legend, clearly labelling the latter as such.
If you're not ready to raise with your child the issue of Alexander's sexuality, and homosexual customs of the ancient Greeks in general, you need not worry. The matter is sidestepped; Alexander and his longtime lover Hephaistion are presented as "inseparable" best friends from childhood; the special attribute of the Sacred Band of Thebes is given as "each fighter swore to fight to the death rather than lose," rather than its being comprised of male couples.
Illustrations not only include the cartoon-like, motion-filled drawings of Terry Naughton and the obligatory maps, but reproduced images including a few I've never seen before. Sidebars containing quotes or other related informational nuggets abound, designed to draw in young readers and create a feel for Alexander's world, so different from their own. And yet some things never change; as a parent you might appreciate the sayings, from notables of the time, that pepper the book, such as: "those who aim at great deeds must also suffer greatly," or "Dignity does not consist in possessing honours, but deserving them." In fact, Shecter makes a parable of Alexander's whole story, as neatly encapsulated on the cover blurb: "Ego can make a great leader -- but ego can break one, too." Maybe I'm old-fashioned and crotchety -- and it hasn't been proven to my satisfaction that ego was indeed Alexander's downfall -- but I personally feel kids these days don't hear messages like these enough.
Rather than choosing one side or the other in the great debate of Alexander's character, and setting it down as gospel, Shecter sets out both sides a chapter entitled "Hero -- or Monster?" (aptly accompanied by a Naughton drawing of flaxen-curled Alexander with the proverbial angel shouting into one ear, and devil into the other). I applaud the author's invitation to youngsters to consider, think and debate, rather than unquestioningly accept one interpretation. I also like it when an adult is honest enough to tell a child, "Some things... we just don't know. And probably never will." No biography of Alexander can be truthful and not say that.
Alexander the Great Rocks The World even has readable endnotes, which might well be a young reader's first introduction to this scholarly convention, and a decent index.
All in all, even though I left Shecter's targeted age-group behind a long time ago, I enjoyed it. As other authors have noted, Alexander, being eternally youthful himself, holds a particular attraction for the young. Through works like this, they can be drawn into the broadening and deepening of the mind that comes with learning history.