He is the most celebrated conquerer and hero in human history, the great unifier of seemingly half the world, Alexander, who spent his adult life in a saddle, leading an army of conquest and consolidation. Ms. Sevill's account of the great hero's life is forced into guesswork far more often than we'd like, but then there's much about the enigmatic Alexander that we do not know. And so gaps are filled in, suppositions made, avenues of thought explored, knowing all the while that only some of his deeds have come down to us through the turbulence of history.
Though Ms. Sevill does spent most of her time on Alexander's life, his birth to a fractious court, his difficult relationship with his mother, his thirst for knowledge, his heroic tutors, his stunning tactics, she leaves off her account with a rumination on the man's legacy. For while few will argue the claim at the top of this review, can the title of greatest conquerer and hero truly be claimed by one who died so young and whose reputation far outstripped his actual legacy? His empire fell apart almost immediately upon his death. And though his name thunders through history, does that not have to be weighed against his lack of planning for his own death, the event of which caused widespread chaos and strife? In this, he strikes me as not unlike Genghis Khan, a great man of his time who believed that he could forge a lasting legacy through strength of will alone, not thinking that, without his spirit to maintain the order he created with the edge of his sword, all would fall quickly into disarray.
What is greatness? Is it military genius? Or is it having the clarity of mind to imagine the next step, the next chapter, and plan for it? If it is the former, then Alexander is the unchallenged head of the pantheon of heroes. But if it is the latter, then I'm far from certain he rates above a particularly wise farmer.
In any event, a well-told history, insofar as we know it to be. (3/5 Stars)
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