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Kings and Conquerors
by Adrian Goldsworthy
This definitive biography of one of history's most influential father-son duos tells the story of two rulers who gripped the world -- and their rise and fall from power.
Alexander the Great's conquests staggered the world. He led his army across thousands of miles, overthrowing the greatest empires of his time and building a new one in their place. He claimed to be the son of a god, but he was actually the son of Philip II of Macedon.
Philip inherited a minor kingdom that was on the verge of dismemberment, but despite his youth and inexperience, he made Macedonia dominant throughout Greece. It was Philip who created the armies that Alexander led into war against Persia. In Philip and Alexander, classical historian Adrian Goldsworthy shows that without the work and influence of his father, Alexander could not have achieved so much. This is the groundbreaking biography of two men who together conquered the world.
"Superb...Goldsworthy is the best sort of writer on ancient times. He eschews psychohistory, explains the wildly unfamiliar culture of that era, and speculates carefully...An outstandingly fresh look at well-trodden ground." - Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The thorough and riveting narrative of both Philip and Alexander's lives and accomplishments makes this an ideal choice for the general reader, with some fresh insights to offer to those familiar with the subjects as well." - Library Journal (starred review)
"[I]mpressive...Goldsworthy expertly mines ancient sources to parse fact from legend, but admits that both Philip and Alexander remain elusive figures...Still, this is a fascinating and richly detailed look at two men who "changed the course of history." - Publishers Weekly
"Philip and Alexander is another wonderful product of Adrian Goldsworthy's historical craft-sterling scholarship, engaging prose, insightful analysis, and unbiased assessment. Goldsworthy explores brilliantly the complex relationship between father and son, the failure of the Greek city-states to stop them, the proper credit for the Macedonian expansion, and the megalomania of Alexander's near global conquests. A brilliant account of how father and son changed the world, for both good and bad." - Victor Davis Hanson, the Hoover Institution, Stanford University and author of A War Like No Other: How the Athenians and Spartans Fought the Peloponnesian War
"A thrilling read, as successful in meeting its ambitions as Philip's kingship, as sweeping as Alexander's conquests." - Tom Holland, author of Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic
"Philip and Alexander is history-writing at its best. In one volume, Adrian Goldsworthy tells the story of perhaps the most successful father-son pair of conquerors of all time. He highlights both the drama of their violent achievements and the consequences that were felt for centuries. The result is expert, fluent, and vivid." - Barry Strauss, author of Ten Caesars: Roman Emperors from Augustus to Constantine
This information about Philip and Alexander was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Adrian Goldsworthy received his DPhil in ancient history from Oxford and has taught at Cardiff University, King's College, and the University of Notre Dame in London. The author of numerous books, including Pax Romana, How Rome Fell, and Caesar, he lives in South Wales, UK.
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