Alexander the Great: From His Death to the Present Day

by John Boardman

An illustrious scholar presents an elegant, concise, and generously illustrated exploration of Alexander the Great’s representations in art and literature through the ages

John Boardman is one of the world’s leading authorities on ancient Greece, and his acclaimed books command a broad readership. In this book, he looks beyond the life of Alexander the Great in order to examine the astonishing range of Alexanders created by generations of authors, historians, and artists throughout the world―from Scotland to China.

Alexander’s defeat of the Persian Empire in 331 BC captured the popular imagination, inspiring an endless series of stories and representations that emerged shortly after his death and continues today. An art historian and archaeologist, Boardman draws on his deep knowledge of Alexander and the ancient world to reflect on the most interesting and emblematic depictions of this towering historical figure.

Some of the stories in this book relate to historical events associated with Alexander’s military career and some to the fantasy that has been woven around him, and Boardman relates each with his customary verve and erudition. From Alexander’s biographers in ancient Greece to the illustrated Alexander “Romances” of the Middle Ages to operas, films, and even modern cartoons, this generously illustrated volume takes readers on a fascinating cultural journey as it delivers a perfect pairing of subject and author.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

176 pages, Hardcover

Published January 8, 2019

Reviews

[Andrew Fear]

This is a slim volume for a very big subject. The first half of the book is fantastic. Boardman does an excellent job taking the reader through the many and various versions of Alexander found in the European Middle Ages and points further afield. One ghost at the feast is Walter of Chatillon's Alexandreis - a best seller in its day and surely worthy of some more attention. The second half of the book is weaker and gets more so as it goes along both in overall narrative drive and in discussion. The section on the twentieth century really becomes more of a not-so-annotated list of material than a critical treatment. I wonder whether the publisher's brief was all too small for the ambitions of the book, just as the world was for Alexander.

[Dreams At Dusk]

There were some interesting points here and there, but overall, I found this on the incoherent side. It was a lot of information but the structure left a lot to be desired. I’d suggest other books instead that expand upon the subjects touched on here. For the Romance, I found Richard Stoneman’s Alexander the Great: A Life in Legend, very interesting. I haven’t read Stewart’s Faces of Power yet, but soon, and will see how that goes on image depictions of Alexander.