In this newer biography of one of history's most well-known names, Everitt provides a sweeping narration of Alexander's life, from his birth as the son of Macedonian King Philip and coming into his own power upon Philip's murder, to what he is best known for: vanquishing Darius, the Great King of Persia, and subsequently conquering all peoples from the Mediterranean to India.

I became concerned during the first few chapters that this was going to be partly a work of speculative nonfiction, which I struggle with, but it eventually found more or less stable footing in the historical record. (I'm also willing to be more forgiving when the time period we're talking about is 2000+ years ago.) The writing is effective and strives to provide balance in areas of uncertainty. As someone not naturally drawn to military history, I found the narrative just engaging enough to keep me interested. I'm not sure any new conclusions can be drawn surrounding his puzzling death at only thirty-three years of age, but Everitt lays out multiple plausible scenarios. Understandably, Alexander's staggering military finesse and accomplishments take center stage in this comprehensive history, though occasionally my eyes would glaze over keeping individual battles and their locations straight. To have completely dominated the known world by the age of thirty is an incredible feat, and it's incredible that we know as much as we do about this enigmatic leader. All that said, it's eye-opening and sobering how perspective changes through time. Today, we would consider Alexander a war criminal. ( )

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Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death by Anthony Everitt is a biography of the famous conqueror. Mr. Everitt is an English writer, professor, and former Secretary-General of the Arts Council of Great Britain.

Alexander the Great is one of those enigmatic figures which have captured the public’s imagination for centuries. In his book, Alexander the Great: His Life and His Mysterious Death author Anthony Everitt paints of picture of his subject with all his strengths and weaknesses, showing a flawed human and not a godlike figure – as Alexander himself would have liked us to see. The book shows the several personas of Alexander, his flaws and capabilities committing both acts of enormous kindness and generosity, as well as incredible cruelty.

This book is well researched and gives out relevant background for the reader to understand the times and the man. There is a lot of cultural information on the time which Alexander grew up in, the Greeks, Babylonians and, of course, the Macedonians.

I learned a lot from the book, it was interesting, surprising and brought up several points which I found fascinating. The author provided details about Alexander’s personal life, and tries to figure out how he died. Mr. Everitt offered some opinions, but mostly stayed with the facts and offered supporting evidence.

At times, however, the book felt bogged down, almost as if the author abandoned the readability of the book in favor of that of an academic article. I didn’t mind finding out what type of soldiers were on the battle field, who the commanders were and their relationship to Alexander (mostly close childhood friends or accomplished leaders), but some of it felt out of place, almost as if the author wanted to include this information but couldn’t quite figure out how.

This book is a raw portrait of this legendary king. While certainly not a definitive biography, it doe keep the reader engaged throughout. ( )