The Nature of Alexander

A super good alexander primer. The story comes to life. It surprised me how much this little book hammered so many important themes home much more effectively than much bigger books on the subject. Well worth the effort.

It is an interesting biography because instead of talking nonstop about the timeline and wars, Renault dedicates the majority of the time discussing Alexander's persona, his charisma, and his relationships. However, don't expect a non-biased narration of accounts because you can tell she was fan-girling the whole time.

The extended notes to Renault's Alexander trilogy. An excellent companion to that series. The text is accompanied by many full-page photographs. The introduction, about the legends and the propaganda that arose after Alexander's death is perhaps the best part of the book.

This book is really entertaining and readable, but Renault has such a huge bias in favor of Alexander that I'm suspicious in terms of accuracy.

This book is really entertaining and readable, but Renault has such a huge bias in favor of Alexander that I'm suspicious in terms of accuracy.

I don't generally read non-fiction books, but this biography is so well-written that you can almost forget that it is factual.

I first encountered the novels of Mary Renault in my teenage years and have enjoyed them ever since. Somewhat later I acquired her study of the life of Alexander that adds to the lore present in her novels.