Envy of the gods : Alexander the Great's ill-fated journey across Asia / John Prevas.

Envy of the gods : Alexander the Great's ill-fated journey across Asia / John Prevas.

0306814420 (pbk.)

Cambridge, Mass. : Da Capo, 2005.

London : Perseus Running [distributor]

English

xii, 242 pages : illustrations, maps ; 23 cm

DF234 .P74 2005

938.07092

A study of the final years in the life of the great conqueror examines the complex mix of ruthless tyrant and incurable romantic that characterized Alexander the Great and argues that the interplay and conflict between these two forces led to his downfall and early death. Alexander the Great accomplished more than any ordinary human could even hope to dream, yet at the end of his life, his empire, his army, and even his own life were unraveling. While the world knows well how the Macedonian king conquered the Persian Empire, few people know the full story of his decline and fall as he sought to bring the most remote areas of the Persian empire under his control. Alexander was a complicated mix of ruthless tyrant and incurable romantic. This schizophrenic interplay of conflicting psychic forces characterized his rise to power and was largely responsible for his downfall. In the last seven years of his life, Alexander the Great grew increasingly unpredictable, sporadically violent, megalomaniacal, and suspicious of friends as well as enemies. In the end Alexander the Great was not defeated by any external enemy but by himself. John Prevas brings this riveting story of the fall of Alexander to life with a compelling narrative informed by his personal retracing of much of the route trod by Alexander through what is now Iran, Afghanistan, and Pakistan.

Originally published: 2004.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

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