Product Description

An entertaining and enlightening book about Alexander the Great, whose leadership and strategic genius made him one of history's greatest empire builders, and who has since influenced and inspired a great number of people from different fields - business, politics, military. Alexander the Great (356-323BC) is arguably the greatest military strategist, tactician and ruler in world history. He reigned over Greece, conquered the Persians, and marched as far as India. His achievements have influenced and inspired a great number of past and current military, political and business leaders. In business, many of the ideas and concepts associated with decision-making and strategy used today by managers and executives have their origins in Alexander the Great. In this book, Partha Bose provides an engaging examination of Alexander the master strategist and tactician. He looks at the ideas and actions of Alexander - how they were formed and applied - telling a story of a man whose influence was to extend for centuries later. On top of his strategic and tactical acumen, Alexander's sensitivity towards people and cultures, and his ability to motivate others, has made him one of the greatest figures in history whose influence has shaped business and other key contemporary fields.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #293135 in Books
• Published on: 2004-04-08
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

Review
'If you want to know about the greatest ever war leader's strategy, this is a fine place to start, and as a management book it is good fun.' Business Life 'learned and entertaining' Wall Street Journal 'Everyone's talking about a sensational young guy whose strategic thinking and leadership qualities made him the most powerful chief executive in the world before he was 30 - and there is a new book out that tells you not only how he did it, but how you can copy his methods. ...Partha Bose's Alexander The Great's Art of Strategy, currently high on the British and American non-fiction bestseller charts...It is selling in sizeable quantities to intelligent people doing important jobs in large companies.' The Times

This book's title and cover are somewhat misleading - rather like Alexander himself. This is no ordinary history book but an ingenious mix of historical biography with a game plan for today's business go-getters. Partha Bose, who has himself built several business empires, shows that the strategies employed by Alexander can be put to good use in today's world of capitalism. Alexander was a fresh-faced youth, the picture of innocence, when he began conquering most of the known world. But he was no plundering bandit who trampled his way to success. Whether he knew it or not, he had a clear-headed strategy and an ability to motivate even those who doubted his astuteness. Many of today's moguls use similar psychology to get where they want to be, Bose says. Self-belief, careful planning and a certain ruthlessness are all attributes as necessary for business success as for triumph on the battlefield. Alexander may have put his enemies to the sword, but business managers can make their points in equally effective ways without spilling blood. Wisdom plays a big part, but not necessarily wisdom in an academic sense. More important is the ability to look ahead with clarity - and that takes a certain mindset. Bose shows how to develop it. Throughout the book, Bose links past and present with colour and elegance. He believes that Alexander set trends that have filtered down through the ages and been put to use by such apparently diverse figures as Elizabeth I, Gandhi and Churchill. What they all possessed was a personality that not only drew others to them but also instilled a sense of confidence and belief - even when logic would normally have argued otherwise. Bose writes in an easy style that is itself strongly motivating and takes the sting out of methods that the less forceful among us may find too daunting to contemplate. (Kirkus UK)

Professor Ernest R. May, Harvard University
It is one of those rare books that teaches lessons but it is still fun to read.

Mark Fisher, Financial Times
Highly entertaining. It draws parallels between his career and those of a host of figures...

Customer Reviews

Almost a classic
A great idea for a book, well written, and showing an extraordinarily broad grasp of history and business. You cannot but help warm to a business writer who uses cricketing analogies of googlies and leg-spin!
What prevents the book from being a real classic are some factual mistakes- for example Alexander's cavalry Companions are described as having scale armour or armour plate, a shield (only used by Companions when on foot), a Celtic sword, and horses with a breastplate. None of this is accurate based on the sources. Even more worrying, the elite Theban Sacred Band are referred to a cavalry unit- when they were actually a hoplite infantry unit. Worrying because if these facts are incorrect, what else is wrong?
I liked his use of Porter's latest view of strategy being about "combining acivities" and the South West Airline example Porter uses so graphically in lectures. An interesting parallel could have been Alexander's combined operations strike against the Scythians where a river crossing was successfully accomplished using boatmen, covering fire from bolt-shooters, and Macedonian infantry acting in unison.
Overall, this could have been a classic- but to my mind, it just misses. But well worth a read.

Top Drawer!
This book is a superb introduction to Alexander the Great and his legacy. The book paints a clear picture to demonstrate how business strategies of today can be linked to Alexander's time and methods. Partha skips back and forth throughout history when telling this story; first giving you a chunk of Alexander's story and then a story from todays business or politics in order to draw links between the strategies used today and those used by Alexander back then. I found this book thoroughly engaging and found the authors style 'easy' as the leg work has apparently been done for you (see the massive reference list at the back of the book!)and just enough information is included for you to get the point. It never gets boring. Top Drawer!!

Packed with Knowledge!
Partha Bose has crafted an impressive volume that stands equally well as a work of interpretive history or as a contemporary guide to effective business strategy. Like any lessons-of-history-applied-to-business volume, it works to find a delicate balance between past and present. Its practical business examples range from Honda to IBM to the war in Afghanistan (a land which Alexander was the last to conquer successfully). Fortunately, Bose avoids the temptation to give the facts of history short shrift. Do not expect to find an answer about whether to do that big acquisition deal. (You'll never establish your own business empire if you get too caught up in the details!) Instead, this volume brings to life the classic lessons of leadership that march across the eons, unstoppable, unchanging, unchallenged, like the Macedonian legion itself. We from getAbstract highly recommend this book to executives, strategists, history buffs and all those who harbor a secret desire to rule the world!