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6th out of 86 books
—
28 voters
Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan
What George W. Bush called the "first war of the twenty-first century" actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Accounts of Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria read eerily like news from our own day. In this vivid, meticulously researched, and elegantly narrated book, Frank...more
Hardcover, 254 pages
Published
July 11th 2005
by University of California Press
(first published June 11th 2005)
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I picked this book up in, of all places, Loreto, Baja California Sur, MX in the only store I've seen in Mexico totally devoted to books, and most of them were in English. Loreto is a small town on the shores of the Gulf of California that caters to tourists and has an American ex-pat community.
Bones is a discourse on not only on Alexander's time in what was then known as Bactria, but also an extended essay on the difficulties of gaining information on this period. In so doing, you learn a lot ab...more
Bones is a discourse on not only on Alexander's time in what was then known as Bactria, but also an extended essay on the difficulties of gaining information on this period. In so doing, you learn a lot ab...more
What George W. Bush called the "first war of the twenty-first century" actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Accounts of Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria read eerily like news from our own day. In this vivid, meticulously researched, and elegantly narrated book, Frank L. Holt follows Alexander's historical, archaeological, and numismatic legacy back and forth between ancient Bactria and mod...more
Excellent book. It was very interesting to see very same mistakes taking place again and again through centuries - man has to accept that some places are too wild and remote and because of that very difficult to put under control of any kind.
These isolated parts of world should be left alone - if they ever choose to connect to any place other than their immediate neighbors let it be of their own will.
If you are interested in Alexander the Great this book will shine some light on a subject that e...more
These isolated parts of world should be left alone - if they ever choose to connect to any place other than their immediate neighbors let it be of their own will.
If you are interested in Alexander the Great this book will shine some light on a subject that e...more
Why did Alexander the Great invade Afghanistan? He was leading a coalition of slightly-less-than-willing Greek states on a campaign of revenge against the King of Persia. Alexander's goal was nothing less than "regime change" (11), with himself as the leader of the new regime. "Alexander announced... [that:] an aggressive preemptive policy would be put into play throughout the Middle East. Alexander made it clear that Persia's King Darius III must disarm and surrender or risk a fight to the fini...more
I actually had the pleasure of listening to him talk about this book in one of my classes. He is a great person and an even better historian. This is an unique book that studies Alexander the Great's campaign in the area of present-day Afghanistan and compares it to what Britian and the US later did in that area. Holt explains the various battles and campaigns in that area and how it affected Alexander, his troops, and the world. This is a great book and highly recommend it!
I learned from this book the reality of how history can repeat itself. Holt does a wonderful job of exploring Alexander's campaign in Afghanistan, as well as exploring the parallels with the present NATO operations in Afghanistan. The name of Kandahar, a city often in the news, was named after Alexander as part of the Greek-Macedonian plan to establish military colonies to control the locals. Instead of his usual set-piece battles, Alexander has to deal with an insurgency practically springing u...more
A slight book, 1/3 appendix, notes, bibliography and index, only 164 pages of text. But it tells an interesting story, so far as it is known--the story of Alexander the Great's campaigns in what is now Afghanistan. The problem is that there is rather little known--not much more than is contained in the ancient biographies of Alexander. The Greek kingdoms that continued in the area were so thoroughly destroyed by invaders a few centuries later that little is known of them beyond what can be glean...more
An interesting account from a historian about Alexander the Great's war in the Bactria region. It was a quick and informative read but the references to modern day attempts at "conquering" Afghanistan seemed haphazard and forced, as if they were hastily inserted after most of the book was written.
3.5 stars overall.
3.5 stars overall.
Very accessible view of Alexander the Great's campaign in Bactria through the lens of a contemporary American historian, Frank L. Holt, professor of ancient history at the University of Houston. His scholarship focuses on ancient military and classical history.
I did really like this book but also found some of the sentiment of the last few chapters mildly disturbing. I might write the author and ask him a few questions.
Many empires more than met their match in Afghanistan, including Alexander the Great. A good read for history.
Heavy on the comparison to the modern-day War in Afghanistan. I think I would like it more if it gave me the history and let me do the comparing.
The book was well-researched, but the information didn't seem to be as well-ordered as I would have liked (why is this coming at the very end of the book?, etc)
The book was well-researched, but the information didn't seem to be as well-ordered as I would have liked (why is this coming at the very end of the book?, etc)
Feb 14, 2010
Colleen Clark
rated it
5 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
Anyone interested in Afghanistan and/or ancient history.
Recommended to Colleen by:
I saw it at Harvard Bookstore.
Shelves:
afghan-cenasia
The long background to the intractability of Afghanistan.
An amazing read.
Would have enjoyed the straight history with the contemporary comparisons in a separate chapter.
From the leading scholar of Hellenistic Central Asia, a study of Alexander's campaign to suppress Bessus after the defeat of Persia, informed by archeology and careful reconstruction from Greek sources that usual concentrate on the big battles. Despite the title, it follows the successor states, especially Seleucus, smart enough to keep his Bactrian wife Apama, their son Antiochus and the string of local kings reconstructed from the coin hordes discovered in the 19th century.
Frank Holt gives an intriguing account of Alexander's attempt to conquer Bactria (modern Afghanistan). Mr. Holt tells of all the trials and struggles Alexander put his men through, which eventually began the downfall of the health and the discipline of his army. The author's analysis is layed out in a way that shows the similarities between Alexander, the British, the Russian, and the US's attempts to conquer Afghanistan. This was a fascinating book to read!
Feb 16, 2008
Stephanie
rated it
4 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
anyone interested in history and modern politics!
Recommended to Stephanie by:
dr. michael wilson
interesting book, the author discusses alexander's invasion of afghanistan and shows how history repeats itself with predictable results (the british, russians, u.s...). he kind of lost me with the last couple of chapters (they discuss coinage), so if you stop when he starts to go in depth about coins, you'll be okay!
Terrific book. Holt is brilliant, writes beautifully and has spent his life working on the ancient history of Central Asia. Every superpower that has invaded Afghanistan since the 4th Century BC has paid a bloody price before giving up and none have accomplished anything valuable.
Excellent and well written analysis of Alexander's attempt to pacify Bactria with appropriate comparisons to 19th c. British and 1980 Soviet attempts to do the same.
Every world leader should read this book.
May 10, 2013
Leonardo Etcheto
marked it as to-read
Apr 28, 2013
Shehzad Arifeen
marked it as to-read
Apr 10, 2013
Higgz
marked it as to-read
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