Product Description

Michael Wood retraces Alexander the Great s amazing journey from Greece to India, searching for the truth behind the legend and experiencing the tremendous scale of his achievements. Using the ancient historians as his guides, Wood follows Alexander s journey as closely as possible, crossing deserts and rivers, from Turkey to war-torn Afghanistan. As the journey progresses, he recreates the drama of Alexander s epic marches and bloody battles. All along the way he finds proof of the survival of the legends surrounding Alexander, a leader whose life has excited the world s imagination for the 2,000 years. 'Wood tells a glorious story with some very dark shadows.' New York Times 'Wood is a perceptive, entertaining and enthusiastic companion.' Sunday Times 'Wood is a lively storyteller.' The Washington Post

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #137404 in Books
• Published on: 2004-10-07
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 256 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
More than two millennia ago, Alexander the Great changed the course of human history in an astonishingly short time: He acceded to the throne of Macedon at the age of just 20, and by the time he was 30 he had conquered the known world. At 32 he was dead. His 22,000-mile journey to India and back opened up connections between the East and West, and even today its traces can be found throughout Asia-- in cultures, legends, place names and traditions. Filmmaker and journalist Michael Wood has retraced Alexander's journey--by car, horse, camel, boat and even on foot-- resulting in the engaging In the Footsteps of Alexander. (He travelled with a small, hardy film crew, and together they also produced a PBS documentary of the same name.) Wood's text vividly brings Alexander's times to life, as he mixes accounts of his own adventures and encounters with the story of Alexander's journey. Accompanying the text is a well-chosen assortment of maps, photographs and reproductions of artwork and artefacts. Alexander aficionados and neophytes alike will find much to inform and delight them in this handsome volume.

Customer Reviews

DIFFERENT
A different approach from other Alexander books, and well worthwhile. It is remarkable how much remains to be seen on the ground and compliments to Michael Wood for an excellent travelogue in this respect.

As history, the book is weaker, the military side of the campaigns is very understated, although the attempted psychological profiles of Alexander and Hephaistion are surely not too wide of the mark.

I sometimes had the feeling that Wood considered his own voyage to be almost as remarkable achievement as Alexander's; and there was a general sense of disapproval of drinking and violence which in the columns of the Guardian or in a BBC book is surely not out of place, but considering the norms of the Hellenistic age should perhaps be judged less censoriously.

A lightweight introduction to Alexander.
Michael Wood's book on Alexander the Great came as something of a disappointment to me, having read and enjoyed his book "In Search of the Trojan War". In this book, Wood follows the route taken by Alexander and his army from their starting point at the Dardanelles to their conquest of Northern India and Pakistan, to Alexander's untimely death in Babylon.

It has to be said that this book is rather thin, and I was often left feeling that some of the details had been glossed over, perhaps in an effort to appeal to a wider audience.

It's very interesting to read about some of the facts that Wood uncovered on his journey, and some of the Alexander legends that have been preserved by local people brought the story to life very well, but perhaps Wood was too influenced by local people who regard Alexander as a murderous devil, as his description of Alexander focusses far too much on his atrocities, alcoholism and egotism to the detriment of his generalship. Clearly, Alexander was a despicable tyrant, but his military achievements were enormous, and didn't get the attention they deserved here.

On the whole, the book is enjoyable, and well worth reading for anyone with an interest in the subject, particularly if it's the first book on Alexander that you read. However, I was disappointed in how far short of the author's other work this book fell. Michael Wood is a gifted writer with an ability to bring his subject to life, and he is clearly a fine historian, but I wonder if this book was written to a tight deadline. I recommend "In Search of the Trojan War" far more than "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great".

Absolutely Fantastic
After I watched the TV series, I didn't feel that Michael Wood would be able to improve on the subject when putting it into book form. After having read the book, I have to say that he has indeed managed to improve upon the series with a sharp, pacy book with fascinating and breathtaking descriptions of places and people. This book is even better than the series and is an absolute must buy.