Review: Alexander the Great and His Time

Alexander the Great and His Time by Agnes Savill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

My review from 2005. I should go back and read this again if I can find the book (it's probably in storage or on a backup drive or something).

Original Review:

"I have only recently in my life become interested in history. My professors and the teachers of my elementary history classes were about as interested in history as I was (which was not at all) or total weird freaks that should have been committed for social readjustment.

But now I find that there was a lot that I missed by glossing over a classical education in favor of more scientific pursuits. I picked up this book because it comes highly recommended and I might just learn something.

I learned something about Alexander and Greek history indeed from this book. I especially liked the topic diversion that the book took. Instead of spending exhausting hours examining each feat of Alexander for it’s philosophic, military and cultural significance each aspect of each feat was examined in a different part of the book. This left room for a more fast-paced examination of each aspect of the exploits of this great man which a high-strung person like myself needs to maintain attentiveness.

One thing I did not like about the book is that Agnes Savill seems to spend far more energy on debunking his idea of misrepresentations on Alexander’s character than on proving his disputations of those misrepresentations. I must admit that I largely agree with the evidence in favor of Savill’s view of events but the tone was almost petulant when pointing out the alleged injustices of Alexander’s critics.

What I most loved about the book was that it gave the casual reader seeking an overview of Alexander’s life a concise narrative of that period in time without becoming pedantic.

I give the book 4 stars."

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