Cover of Alexander

Alexander

Great Captains seriesNext:Hannibal(1891) →

Alexander the Great (356-323 B.C.) was incontestably one of the greatest military generals of all time. From the time he sacked Thebes and crossed the Hellespont to his death eleven years later, he conquered the entire Persian empire, including Tyre, Egypt, and Babylon, and moved on to present-day northern India and Afghanistan. He influenced the spread of Hellenism throughout the Near East and Asia, establishing many cities such as Alexandria that flourished long after his death.This classic study of Alexander, his predecessors, and his influence on the art of war remains fascinating and relevant over a hundred years after its initial publication. The classical works dealing with warfare in and before Alexander's time gave little more than bare facts of military matters; Dodge's contribution was to vividly reconstruct every major battle of Alexander's brilliant military career, to provide background material concerning the art of war before and during Alexander's reign, and to fully illustrate his narrative with invaluable maps and charts. The result is a masterpiece of military history—the book that inspired General J. F. C. Fuller to write his own classic study of Alexander, and one which will similarly inspire generations of future readers.

Themes
history
Audience
adult
Length
epic · 720 pages

Click a tag to see books like this one that share it.

Read it? Sign in to help tag it.

Liked Alexander? Here’s where I’d start.

These suit anyone who liked Alexander. Sign in and mark a few books for picks shaped around your own taste.

  1. Alexander the Great and the Logistics of the Macedonian Army Shares history, ancient history, alexander
  2. The Generalship Of Alexander The Great Shares history, alexander, ancient history
  3. Alexander of Macedon, 356-323 B.C. Shares history, biography, ancient history
  4. By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire Shares history, ancient history, alexander

“People who read Alexander tend to reach for these next.”

  1. The Rise of the Greeks
  2. The Military Institutions of the Romans
  3. Scipio Africanus
  4. Alexander the Great

“If you want more of the same (history), start with these.”

  1. The Rise and Fall of Athens
  2. Pyrrhus of Epirus
  3. Herodotus 1-2
  4. Xenophon's Retreat: Greece, Persia, and the End of the Golden Age

“If it was the alexander that hooked you, try one of these.”

  1. Alexander's Tomb: The Two-Thousand Year Obsession to Find the Lost Conquerer
  2. The Search for Alexander
  3. Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great
  4. Alexander the Great: Selections from Arrian, Diodorus, Plutarch and Quintus Curtius

“These start from a similar idea, even if they go somewhere else with it.”

  1. Warfare in the Ancient World
  2. The Times Complete History of the World
  3. A Military History Of The Western World, Vol. I: From The Earliest Times To The Battle Of Lepanto
  4. Military Commanders: The 100 Greatest Throughout History