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A review by mweis
Alexander at the End of the World: The Dramatic Last Years That Made Alexander Great by Rachel Kousser
3.75
*I received an eARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*
To be completely honest, I know very little about Alexander the Great or really about much of ancient history. That being said, I found Kousser's book about the end of Alexander's life to be very readable and narratively interesting even given my lack of background knowledge. The book starts after Alexander's defeat of Persian ruler Darius III and focuses on his long march into Afghanistan as he searched for the "end of the world".
I thought Kousser did a good job of balancing the story of Alexander, showing where he succeeded and where he failed. She also I think did a decent job of highlighting the supporting figures in Alexander's story. For being a relatively short book, Kousser packs in a lot of information while also keeping the reader from feeling bogged down by names and dates.
Overall, I thought this was a great character study and exploration of Alexander's conquest through Central Asia. I was impressed at the breadth of knowledge and how Kousser drew connections to other points in history.
To be completely honest, I know very little about Alexander the Great or really about much of ancient history. That being said, I found Kousser's book about the end of Alexander's life to be very readable and narratively interesting even given my lack of background knowledge. The book starts after Alexander's defeat of Persian ruler Darius III and focuses on his long march into Afghanistan as he searched for the "end of the world".
I thought Kousser did a good job of balancing the story of Alexander, showing where he succeeded and where he failed. She also I think did a decent job of highlighting the supporting figures in Alexander's story. For being a relatively short book, Kousser packs in a lot of information while also keeping the reader from feeling bogged down by names and dates.
Overall, I thought this was a great character study and exploration of Alexander's conquest through Central Asia. I was impressed at the breadth of knowledge and how Kousser drew connections to other points in history.