Product Description

Thrilling historical novel evoking the madness, mayhem and sheer God-awfulness of Alexander the Great's campaign in Afghanistan - a timeless tale of men at war.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #132763 in Books
• Published on: 2007-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 316 pages

From the Inside Flap
Alexander the Great’s campaign in the Afghan kingdoms began in the summer of 330bc. It would last for three brutal years and prove the most difficult he and his army ever fought.

Thrilling and urgently told, The Afghan Campaign recounts the story of this bloody and ruthless conflict from the perspective of a Macedonian recruit. The youngest of three brothers and eager to prove himself, Matthias has volunteered to join the leader he worships on his ambitious expedition into the unknown, unconquered country we now call Afghanistan. But as he reaches the front line, Matthias begins to realize that the nature of warfare for which he trained has changed. The Macedonians face a new kind of enemy – and must learn to fight a new kind of war. Experiencing fear, euphoria, horror and shame, Matthias and his comrades undergo a rite of passage as they, soldiers of a Western army whose code is secular and humanist, struggle to subjugate a fiercely proud Eastern warrior nation of deeply held beliefs and a passionate willingness to die for their cause. Simply to survive, Alexander’s men must shake off the trappings of ‘civilization’ and adopt the same unorthodox and barbaric tactics as their foe – but at what cost?

Set against the imposing, alien implacability of the Afghan landscape, this powerful and affecting novel not only demonstrates Steven Pressfield’s profound understanding of the hopes and fears of men in battle but also has important things to say about the nature of wars past . . . and present.

From the Back Cover
Acclaim for the novels of Steven Pressfield:

‘Pressfield brings Alexander alive for a modern audience with the verve and the skill with which he conjured the heroes of Thermopylae in Gates of Fire.’
Manda Scott

‘Pressfield writes with a quality and style akin to classical legend . . . I’ve not read such convincing accounts of classical warfare in years.’
John Whitbourn

‘Gripping, moving and literate . . . rarely does an author manage to recreate a moment in history with such mastery, authority and psychological insight.’
Nelson DeMille

‘An impressive scholar and gifted storyteller, Pressfield is the finest military writer alive, bar none.’
Stephen Coonts

'No one writes better historical fiction than Steven Pressfield.'
Vince Flynn

About the Author

Steven Pressfield was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother. He graduated from Duke University in 1965. His struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in his 2002 book, The War of Art. Mr. P has worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. He has picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.

With the publication of The Legend of Bagger Vance in 1995, Mr. Pressfield became a writer of books once and for all. His writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code--internal rather than external--in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that Pressfield has labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in The War of Art) and the technique for combating these foes can be described as "turning pro."

There's a recurring character in Mr. Pressfield's books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like Mr. Pressfield's conception of art and the artist:

"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."

Customer Reviews

Back to his amazing best
I have read all of Pressfield's work and apart from Gates of Fire, and Last of the Amazons, I have to say, they have not lived up to the early promise of Gates of Fire. Alexander was a bit of a let down and Tides didn't live up to its billing.
The Afghan Campaign for me, reminded me what a really great author Mr. Pressfield is. I was hooked from the start right to the end and I think anyone should read this book and will feel better for having done so.

I hope his next works live up to this excellent book!
A must buy!

Great if you dont want loads of action
Steven Pressfields books are very complex, this being no exception. As always in the first person from the account of a simple soldier in the time of Alexander the Greats campaign into Afganistan.
Lots of imformation on the campaign is given in this very gripping novel with great characters and a engrossing storyline. I was surprised that I enjoyed this book so much because I normally like lots of action and battles, this was actually a refreshing change from that. This book deserves to be read again and again.

Historical Fiction as it Should be Written

Steven Pressfield was born in 1943. He is an American novelist and author of screenplays, principally of military historical fiction set in classical antiquity. His historical fiction is well-researched, but for the sake of dramatic flow, Pressfield may alter some details, like the sequence of events, or make use of jarring contemporary terms and place names, his stated aim being an attempt to capture the spirit of the times.

I must admit I don't find Steven Pressfield's books easy to read. That is not to say that they are not worth reading, in fact the opposite applies. The problem for me lies in the fact that they are so full of detail and have such an extensive character list, that I am forever checking back for something that I may have missed, or for a name that I can put to a character. But there can be no doubting the quality of the author's writing and this is a small price to pay,.

Steven Pressfield, the best selling novelist of ancient warfare, returns with a riveting historical novel that re-creates the invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 BC by Alexander the Great.