Alexander the Great. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits …

Alexander the Great. The Brief Life and Towering Exploits of History’s Greatest Conqueror as told by his Original Biographers. By Brenda Jackson and Ronald L. McDonald. Edited by Tania Gergel. Introduction by Michael Wood. ISBN 0 14 20.0140 6

Just what I wanted, Alexander’s life story “as told by his original biographers” and since it included a foreword by Michael Wood, whom I hold in high esteem, I thought this would be the purchase of my life!

Although it is a noteworthy book where classic authors like Arrian, Plutarch and Curtius Rufus, are skillfully tied together in a pleasant narrative, I ended up feeling that the most interesting section was actually Michael Wood’s introduction. He at least knows how to kindle that sparkle that makes a book interesting and fascinating to read. Brenda Jackson and Ronald L. McDonald's story is more a flat statement of facts and figures from a past that seems even more remote than it already is.

I’ll hang on to Michael Wood’s last introductory sentence where he is quoting Arrian “… It is my belief that … never in the world was there another like him [Alexander]”.