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Greetings everyone.

I would like to read some credible books about Alexander the great, so any recommendations on which book titles I definitely should read or buy ? Battle documentations would be nice, but also a reasonable biography of Alexander III King of Macedonia would do fine.

Am very much into ancient Peloponnese history and Greek mythology.

You might want to look at the top ten books on Pothos for some ideas. Go to the home page and you'll see the link in the text under the "Welcome" headline. There are also book reviews to be found via the link in the left hand sidebar.

Personally, I would suggest John Maxwell O'Brien's biography, Alexander the Great: The Invisible Enemy (my favorite bio), but my recommendation might be considered controversial by others because John writes much about the influence of wine. However, the book is written as if a Greek tragedy with many quotes from the Iliad paralleling events in Alexander's life, and there is much more about ancient Greek religion in this biography than in any other so you might find it enjoyable given your interests. John does not concentrate much attention on the battles though, and I believe that most Pothosians think a more straightforward biography would be better for beginners.

I also definitely recommend that you begin to read the ancient sources, beginning with Arrian's Anabasis. You would have to buy two volumes to get the whole history in the Loeb edition, but a complete Penguin translation is available under the title Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander.

Best regards,

amyntoros wrote:I also definitely recommend that you begin to read the ancient sources, beginning with Arrian's Anabasis.

A yes, the Greek historian Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon of Nicomedia who wrote the book Anabasis of Alexander.
Thanks for showing this to me, I'll have a look for it.

Thanks for the advice, any more ?

Phalanx Pursos wrote:Thanks for the advice, any more ?

Philip II of Macedon by N Hammond; Conquest and Empire by AB Bosworth and The Legacy of Alexander: Politics, Warfare and Propaganda under the Successors by AB Bosworth.

Should give a good breadth: the springboard; the dive and the ever widening ripples.