A breath of fresh air ... Kousser’s biography extends beyond Alexander’s military movements and into his emotional life ... Her account is exhaustively researched — many chapters extend past 100 footnotes — but remains approachable.
A strong rebuttal ... Borders on the romantic or hagiographic ... Offers many pleasures, including a brisk and accomplished prose style, but the view of Alexander that drives it is one that many will find inconsistent and bewildering.
Her prose is bracing and her descriptive powers rise admirably to the task of portraying the world in which Alexander operated ... Kousser summons new archaeological evidence, some of which is persuasive, to support her argument that Alexander was more of an integrationist than is generally recognized ... The author’s characterization of the relationship between the king and his men as the campaign wore on...is especially convincing.
Alexander’s is a story that bears retelling and Kousser is a masterful storyteller ... It’s a ripping good yarn. Those of a strictly historical bent might have wished more about how we exactly know any given detail.
Kousser details Alexander’s skills at organizing logistical support to keep troops fed, housed, and paid ... Battles are meticulously recounted in all their bloody confusions.
Action-heavy, suspenseful ... Her alchemy of cultural context, political machinations, and heart-stopping fight scenes makes them engrossingly entertaining into the bargain.
Beguiling ... Kousser’s novelistic account, with its emphasis on personalities and intrigues, makes for compulsive reading. The result is a fresh and propulsive take on an ancient figure who grappled with how to govern a diverse society.
