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Conquest and Empire: The Reign of Alexander the Great
Book by Bosworth, A. B.
352 pages, Paperback
First published November 1, 1988
18 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
About the author
Albert Brian Bosworth
11 books8 followersProfessor Brian Bosworth was a distinguished scholar in the field of Classics and Ancient History, with an interest in Alexander the Great. He spent most of his academic career at the University of Western Australia.
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
February 25, 2010
This really is a good Alexander book, the bio is short and readable, and the analysis of Alexander's rule is clear. But the edition is terrible- tiny print, poorly broken up, few guides (clearer maps, for one, would have been useful). Maybe I'm just a snob, but I don't believe the typesetting should be allowed to detract from what the author has to say...
March 26, 2016
Best book on Alexander's life time that I have come across.
February 17, 2022
Literatüre giren diğer önemli eserler ile karşılaştırmalı bir bakış açısı sunmasıyla dönemin doğrularına ulaşma anlamında oldukça önemli bir eser. Ancak özellikle savaşların ve büyük şehirlerin fetihleri sonrası yaşanan büyük çalkantıların olduğu kısımların fazlasıyla yüzeysel geçilmiş olması, döneme dair detay öğrenmek isteyenler için eserin önemini bir nebze azaltıyor, yine de konuya ilgisi olanlar için mutlaka okunması gereken eserlerden biri.
April 15, 2013
Dense, but extremely informative. Bosworth does a pretty good job getting to the facts from the often contradictory sources.
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November 15, 2019Mr. Bosworth, a man I admire
January 23, 2023
Still the best biography of Alexander to date.
February 23, 2017
Very good source for an overall look at Alexander the Great. Plenty of details and goes through many primary sources. This was one of the books assigned for my Alexander the Great class in university and the prof pretty much used this as the textbook. Great source but don't forget to check primary and other secondary sources, and always be aware of author bias.
February 26, 2016
Bosworth at the beginning says the book is not about Alexander--but it very much is, at least in the first half. The latter half of the books, composed of essays, I found more specialized and difficult to follow.
December 13, 2025
★★★★½.
Enjoyed this read and learned a lot. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, only subtracting a bit because, one, the maps were horrible, which is probably not the author's fault. But two, Mr. Bosworth could have done a better job of this: when describing a country or city that is strategic to the story, he uses names no one has heard of as they were back in 333 BC for God's sakes. Would it have been too much trouble for him to add, after yet another strange name, the words " which is current day Istanbul, or current day Baghdad, or current day whatever."
However, this book is the truth. Mr B goes through great lengths to show the research behind a principle. He even tells you how Plutarch or whomever the author was that they had no visible documentation to back it up.
So this book has no slants, no biases, doesn't say this army had x amount of casualties if the number is not documented, etc.
Not knowing what we will never know about Alexander was just as important as knowing. Mr Bosworth was great, separating the facts from the myths, and as I said, pointing out where previous authors dramatized their stories for fan appeal.
To think how much Alexander accomplished before the age of 30, is so remarkable...and his death is as complex as JFK's with all the theories.
A slow read, not for everyone, but a must read for any fans of Alexander The Great.
Enjoyed this read and learned a lot. I'd give it 4.5 stars if I could, only subtracting a bit because, one, the maps were horrible, which is probably not the author's fault. But two, Mr. Bosworth could have done a better job of this: when describing a country or city that is strategic to the story, he uses names no one has heard of as they were back in 333 BC for God's sakes. Would it have been too much trouble for him to add, after yet another strange name, the words " which is current day Istanbul, or current day Baghdad, or current day whatever."
However, this book is the truth. Mr B goes through great lengths to show the research behind a principle. He even tells you how Plutarch or whomever the author was that they had no visible documentation to back it up.
So this book has no slants, no biases, doesn't say this army had x amount of casualties if the number is not documented, etc.
Not knowing what we will never know about Alexander was just as important as knowing. Mr Bosworth was great, separating the facts from the myths, and as I said, pointing out where previous authors dramatized their stories for fan appeal.
To think how much Alexander accomplished before the age of 30, is so remarkable...and his death is as complex as JFK's with all the theories.
A slow read, not for everyone, but a must read for any fans of Alexander The Great.
January 14, 2024
Dense but readable. I appreciate Bosworth's analysis of the historical data. There are only so many sources on Alexander and all each historian can do is interpret the writings or make corrections of possible mistranslations. I appreciate that Bosworth refrained from speculating about events where the information was lacking, unclear or ambiguous. We can draw on our own conclusions. I think I enjoyed the appendices more than the main text, especially "C Alexander and the army". The constant restructuring of the army to meet the exigencies of each situation made me more appreciative of Alexander's logical and organizational skills. I can see why his campaigns are still studied.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews