New book by Waldemar Heckel

marcus · Post by **marcus** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 8:46 pm

I see just now on Amazon that Waldemar Heckel has a new book coming out this year (May, I think it was, for the paperback), called Alexander the Great, a New History.

There weren't any details, and Heckel is cited as an editor, rather than a writer (and a joint editor at that), so my first thought was that it might be a collection of essays. To call it a "New History", however, doesn't seem right if it's a collection of essays, so I'm forced to assume it's a full-blown biog.

I have to say that I'm keen, if it is a biog, because that's something Heckel hasn't done before. He's best known for his fantastic prosopographic work, of course ... will he have something really new to say about the history?

I've already pre-ordered it, and will await eagerly.

ATB

amyntoros · Post by **amyntoros** » Tue Jan 16, 2007 10:12 pm

I found this on the Blackwell Publishing Site:

Alexander the Great: A New History
Edited by: WALDEMAR HECKEL (University of Calgary) and Lawrence Tritle

Alexander the Great: A New History combines traditional scholarship with contemporary research to offer an innovative treatment of one of history's most famous figures.

Written by leading experts in the field
Looks at a wide range of diverse topics including Alexander's religious views, his entourage during his campaign East, his sexuality, the influence of his legacy, and his representations in art and cinema
Discusses Alexander's influence, from his impact on his contemporaries to his portrayals in recent Hollywood films
A highly informed and enjoyable resource for students and interested general readers

Table of Contents:
1. Introduction
2. The Epigraphic Evidence
3. The Numismatic Evidence
4. The Archaeological and Art Historical Evidence
5. The Macedonian Background
6. Alexander: the last Achaemenid
7. Alexander and the Greeks
8. Alexander and the Barbarians
9. Alexander as a war leader
10. Alexander's court
11. Heroes, cults and divinity
12. Alexander's Sex Life
13. After Alexander: the Succession and the Diadochs
14. Alexander's Image in the Hellenistic World
15. The Roman Alexander
16. Jewish, Christian and Muslim Alexanders
Sources for further reading
Bibliography
Chronological table

So it is a compilation after all, although that's not necessarily a bad thing. I believe that many (if not all) of the articles came from a Symposium organized by Heckel in Canada a year or two ago. Not a hundred percent sure, but I think that's the case.

We, in the US, won't get the book until mid-July though. I hate this. Routledge did the same thing with Carney's book on Olympias and then went and delayed publication by a further couple of months. Arrgh!

Best regards,

Amyntoros

PS. Gotta smile at seeing the chapter on Alexander's Sex Life. I wonder who wrote it?

marcus · Post by **marcus** » Wed Jan 17, 2007 11:15 pm

amyntoros wrote:PS. Gotta smile at seeing the chapter on Alexander's Sex Life. I wonder who wrote it?

Don't!

It does look good - I hope that the chapters/essays are fairly substantial.

I will certainly welcome it as a collection - although it would be interesting to get Heckel's overview view (if you see what I mean) there are, of course, many, many biographies/histories of Alexander. As you know, Amyntoros, I'm currently reading Lewis V Cummings's book, published 1939 ... to be honest, I'm struggling with it, because it's all stuff I've read before. I find I'm more interested in articles on specific aspects, which are more detailed, at the moment.

Amazon confirmed my pre-order this morning ... woohoo!

ATB

jasonxx · Post by **jasonxx** » Thu Jan 18, 2007 12:43 am

"Maybe One day I would write a book and be known as the pupil of Aristotle."

If only my gramma and spelling was any good maybe I could write a book.

Oh to dream.

Kenny

abm · Post by **abm** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 8:19 pm

I guess this is the book that was previously announced as 'Blackwell's companion to Alexander the Great' in the series 'Blackwell's companions to the Ancient World'. It is certainly not a volume of conference proceedings. The book you are talking about, Amyntoros, will probably be published by Regina Books, as was 'Crossroads of History', the volume with the proceedings of Heckel's previous conference.

best regards,
abm

amyntoros · Post by **amyntoros** » Tue Jan 23, 2007 11:04 pm

abm wrote:I guess this is the book that was previously announced as 'Blackwell's companion to Alexander the Great' in the series 'Blackwell's companions to the Ancient World'. It is certainly not a volume of conference proceedings. The book you are talking about, Amyntoros, will probably be published by Regina Books, as was 'Crossroads of History', the volume with the proceedings of Heckel's previous conference.

Cool! These days I find that I appreciate compilation volumes much more than straight biographies of Alexander. (Not to say that I have any objections to an author publishing another biography!

) Anyway, this means I can now look forward to two Heckel compilations. Will have to search out any available info on the Regina site. Thanks for the heads up, ABM.

Best regards,

jasonxx · Post by **jasonxx** » Wed Jan 24, 2007 12:55 am

There cant really be anything new to write about Alexander. There all variations of the Original sources. A new history on Alexander can be written when something new is known. That can only be if his body is found then I guess there would be permutations on the original stories. And maybe we would learn something we really dont expect.

Kenny