Recent books on Alexander

[jona]

Which non-fiction books have recently appeared on Alexander? There must be a lot. I know of the book by our member Andrew Chugg, and the books by Paul Cartledge and Peter Tsouras. There's the collection of western sources by Yardley/Heckel, a Brill Companion to Alexander, Worthington's *Man and god*, and the excellent book by Sabine M++ller, which is the only one I read that really mattered. (Sorry Andrew, your book has not arrived in my bookshop yet.) Pierre Briant added a book on Darius III. Which books did I miss?Jona

[Taphoi]

Thanks Jona. I think Holt's book on the Elephant Medallions deserves an honourable mention, even though it was published last year. It is the best modern work on Alexander that I have read, despite the fact that it deals principally with three rare coin types of the King. Perhaps small is beautiful. (My own book, The Lost Tomb of Alexander the Great, is now available from Amazon UK on 24 hour dispatch, so nobody need wait long for it, if they don't want to!) Best wishes, Andrew

[jona]

Of course, ignoring Holt is a total black-out. It is indeed one of the very best books. His booklet on Alexander the Great in Bactria and Sogdia (1988) is even better.Re: your own book - I've ordered it at a bookshop just around the corner. It takes a while longer, but they are kind people and there are so many small shops closing down... Yet I am looking forward to your book.Jona

[Taphoi]

I have read the Bactria book as well and I agree it's good, but I preferred the Elephant Medallions. It's such a great detective mystery with wonderful convolutions in the plot. And the denouement is very insightful, authoritative and genuinely new.
Of course we should not forget your own book either: Alexander de Grote, De ondergang van het Perzische Rijk, 2004 Athenaeum Amsterdam, I think(?) It's a pity so few visitors to Pothos will read Dutch. Any possibility of an English translation? Your own English seems excellent. Best wishes, Andrew

[marcus]

Hi Andrew,I have to agree - I thought Holt's Bactria book was fabulous, but the Elephant Medallions was just fantastic.Amazon told me a couple of weeks ago that your book was still a 4-6 week order ... but that might have changed. I do have it combined with a couple of other items, however, which definitely will take longer ... so I guess I'll have to wait just a while more.Looking forward to it, though :-)All the bestMarcus

[abm]

Has anyboy read "The Death of Alexander the Great: What - or - Who Really Killed the Young Conqueror of the Known World?" by Paul Doherty?
Is Tsouras' book worth reading?
thanks

[jona]

I found the Tsouras book accessible and it contains no mistakes, but I do not think it is a must-read. Yet as a first introduction, it's excellent.Jona

[marcus]

I've flicked through the Doherty book - don't bother.I know others have read it (or at least some of it), so might be better placed to tell.There's another book on Alexander's death, by Graham Phillips - steer well clear (or see my review on Amazon.co.uk). It isn't a book to be set down lightly - rather throw it across the room with force!All the bestMarcus

[Kit]

Hi Marcus,Have you read Alexander:The Conqueror by Laura Foreman? I'm in two minds at present as to whether it's worth getting for Christmas. The illustrations seem interesting and the fact it has a foreword by Borza is promising, but I'm not sure the text would add anything new? regards,Kit

[xxx]

You'd be better off buying the Getty book published last year or the year before.

[bookreader2369]

I'm not really sure what recent books have come out about Alexander the great. I haven't been to the bookstore in a longwhile. Anyway, I'm sure that there will be a ton of interesting, readable non-fiction books that will be worth checking out that should be coming out very soon or in the coming weeks. Whatever the books may be should be a great companion to a beautiful looking film.