"With all the intensity, insight, and narrative drive that made The Spartans a hit with critics and readers, Paul Cartledge's Alexander the Great glowingly illuminates the brief but iconic life of Alexander (356-323 BC), king of Macedon, conqueror of the Persian Empire, and founder of a new world order. Cartledge, the distinguished scholar and historian long acknowledged as the leading international authority on ancient Sparta and Greece, brilliantly evokes Alexander's remarkable political and military accomplishments, following ghe geaographical path of his victorious armies and charting the tremendous field of this warrior hero's influence. Alexander's legacy has had a major impact on military tacticians, scholars, and statesmen -- in his own lifetime and in ours; he has been seen as hero, holy man, Christian saint, a new Achilles, philosopher, scientist, prophet, and visionary. Cartledge brilliantly explains why and how Alexander is endlessly fascinating, with a view to a better understanding of such fundamental topics as charismatic leadership, imperialism, and Middle Eastern geopolitics."--Publisher's website.

Originally published: Woodstock, N.Y. : Overlook Press, 2004. Includes maps of:The Fame of Alexander; ALexander's World; Young Alexander (356-334 BCE); Alexander and the Macedonians; Alexander and the Greeks; Alexander: Conqueror of Persia (334-327 BCE); The Generalship of Alexander; Alexander and the Persians; The Final Years (327-323 BCE); Alexander the Man; The Divinity of Alexander; The Legends and Legacies of Alexander.

Timeline -- Maps and battle plans -- The fame of Alexander -- Alexander's world -- Young Alexander (356-334 BCE) -- Alexander and the Macedonians -- Alexander and the Greeks -- Alexander: Conqueror of Persia (334-327 BCE) -- The generalship of Alexander -- Alexander and the Persians -- The final years (327-323 BCE) -- Alexander the man -- The divinity of Alexander -- The legends and legacies of Alexander -- Appendix: Sources of paradox -- Table of Achaemenid kings -- Dramatic personae -- Glossary -- Bibliography.