From the illustrious son of Zeus down to the absolute monarch idealised by Louis XIV, from the valiant knight of the crusaders to the Moslem philosopher-king, the author reveals the gamut of contrasts that make up the legend of Alexander, this extraordinary hero of history and myth.

'Some more talk of Alexander'; Paul Cartledge; Introduction; Part I: The Major Stages Of Alexander's Reign; 1. The Graeco-oriental world at Alexander's succession; 2. The beginning of Alexander's reign: the revolt of Thebes; 3. The conquest of the western provinces of the Persian Empire; 4. The conquest of the eastern provinces and the end of the Asian campaign; Part II: The Different 'Faces' Of Alexander; 5. The king of the Macedonians; 6. The hegemon of the Greeks; 7. The successor to the Achaemenids; 8. The son of Zeus; Part III: Alexander The Man; 9. Youth and upbringing; 10. Alexander's personality; 11. Light and shade; Part IV: The Legacy Of Alexander; 12. Alexander's empire: a fragile construction; 13. The invention of a new type of monarchy; 14. The birth of a 'new world'; 15. The Hellenisation of the East, and its limits; Part V: Alexander The Mythical Hero; 16. The image of Alexander in the ancient world; 17. The medieval Alexander; 18. The image of Alexander in seventeenth- and eighteenth-century France; 19. The historians and Alexander's image; 20. From The Alexander Romance to novels about Alexander; Conclusion; Alexander's principal Companions; Chronology; The succession of the Achaemenid kings; Bibliography; Supplementary Bibliography; Translator's Note; Index.

Engaging - espcially her final account of Alexander's continual reinterpretation in the medieval and contemporary European worlds ! Janet Lloyd offers another of her customarily reliable translations ! the result is something far better than the usual rehash of Alexander's life and legacy. Engaging - espcially her final account of Alexander's continual reinterpretation in the medieval and contemporary European worlds ! Janet Lloyd offers another of her customarily reliable translations ! the result is something far better than the usual rehash of Alexander's life and legacy.