Alexander: God, King, Man

A biography of Alexander the Great, based on a series of discoveries and the author’s own translations of source material from twelve ancient languages.

In 336 BCE, at the age of twenty, Alexander, a boy from the hills of Macedon, inherited a kingdom, a pile of debts, and an army. He led the army east, into the heart of the Persian Empire, and began a military campaign. The young man became a king, the king became a hero, the hero became a living god, and the god died aged thirty-two in Babylon.

For centuries, historians have told his story, yet Alexander has remained a mystery. Now, the ruins of his cities have emerged from the bottom of the sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered, and the tombs of his ancestors have been unearthed.

Based on more than a decade of research, Alexander allows readers to experience the desert wind and the horror of battle. Richardson’s research has taken him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of Afghanistan. Alexander is a work of non-fiction: a retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.