This is an older book targeted to an upper-elementary reading level. Although the topic was complex, the narrative was easy to follow. Both Alexander's strengths and weaknesses were acknowledged, as well as the stark contrasts between his behavior at different points throughout his life. However, what may have been an effort to make Alexander easier to understand ended up being somewhat stylistically jarring. The author often made sweeping generalizations ("like all" and "of course") and occasionally drew comparisons to other historical figures and events, which a young reader may not be familiar with yet. Despite its faults, it was still an interesting read.

Excerpts from the book:

"Alexander's end was that of a man who, for good reasons or bad, had conquered almost the entire world, but who had never been able to conquer himself. The conquest of self is the greatest victory of all, but Alexander, even when he was at the height of his power, had never been able to achieve it." (p 170)

"There are plenty of black marks to be placed against Alexander, and the list of his cruelties is long. But he was certainly, beyond doubt, one of the most extraordinary young men who ever lived. Whether or not he actually thought in terms of a world state, of the unity of all mankind as brothers under a single government, hardly matters. What does matter that, whether he planned it that way or not, he did more to unify the known world than any human being who had ever lived." (p 176-177) ( )

Alexander the Great was one of the greatest conquers in the world. When he was a little boy conquering was all that he thought of. Even as a boy he proved to be very special, he tamed a wild horse when he realized that the horse was scared of its own shadow. He rode it every, even when the horse was weak and old. Alexander's father was tired of Alexander's mother, so he married someone else. The mother was extremely mad. Alexander loved both his mom and his dad, but his mother turned Alexander against his father. Later on he was eventually murdered by one of his own men and Alexander became king.
When he was an adult he left home and conquered almost all of Europe, India, and some of Asia. He never returned home. At Asia he was injured badly, only two of his men were with him and they were on their way home. His army lost its motivation, they've been away for so long that they wanted to go home and not fight any more. He lost a lot of his friends and he just turned cruel and mad. One night he ended up drinking too much and got sick. He got better, ate meat, and got worse. He kept going back and forth until he eventually died. At his last few breaths he claimed he wanted to be born at the strongest of his cities. ( )

I really liked Alexander the Great before reading this book. But this author couldn't seem to make up his mind what Alexander was really like, continuously contradicting himself and saying how 'merciful' and 'bloodthirsty' Alexander was. While I'm sure it has real information, this book is just badly written. At least it doesn't take long to read. ( )

This is an old school book that I acquired from my grandparents (I think). While it introduces the history of Alexander the Great in a wonderful young adult novel fashion, I was suprised at the moral lessons that included. The book clear state that certain personality traits were "evil" or "wrong" and others were "ideal", In one instance they even pointed out that drunk people have boring conversation. Not only did I learn a little about Alexander's life, I had a few chuckles along the way. ( )

356-323 BC