Alexander the Great
The Hunt for a New Past
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Narrated by:
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John Lee
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By:
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Paul Cartledge
About this listen
Cartledge brilliantly evokes Alexander's remarkable political and military accomplishments, cutting through the myths to show why he was such a great leader. He explores our endless fascination with Alexander and gives us insight into his charismatic leadership, his capacity for brutality, and his sophisticated grasp of international politics.
Alexander the Great is an engaging portrait of a fascinating man and a welcome balance to the myths, legends, and skewed history that have obscured the real Alexander.
©2004 Paul Cartledge (P)2009 Blackstone Audio, Inc.Listeners also enjoyed...
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Critic reviews
"Readable and engrossing....Immediate, discursive, insightful, and highly engaging." ( Pittsburgh Tribune-Review)
"With his usual riveting storytelling, Cartledge...narrates Alexander's life and rise to power. Cartledge's knack for bringing history to life makes for an absorbing new biography of the legendary Greek leader." ( Publishers Weekly)
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Following Caesar’s assassination and Mark Antony’s defeat of the conspirators who killed Caesar, two powerful men remained in Rome—Antony and Caesar’s chosen heir, young Octavian, the future Augustus. When Antony fell in love with the most powerful woman in the world, Egypt’s ruler Cleopatra, and thwarted Octavian’s ambition to rule the empire, another civil war broke out. In 31 BC one of the largest naval battles in the ancient world took place—more than 600 ships, almost 200,000 men, and one woman—the Battle of Actium.
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Highly detailed accounts
- By LEE on 03-28-22
By: Barry Strauss
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Marathon
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- Narrated by: Jeremy Gage
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Published to coincide with Marathon's 2500th anniversary, a riveting history of the historic battle. The Battle of Marathon in 490 B.C. is not only understood as the most decisive event in the struggle between the Greeks and the Persians, but can also be seen as perhaps the most significant moment in our collective history. 10,000 Athenian citizens faced a Persian military force of more than 25,000.
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Effectively evokes the world of ancient greece
- By Aaron on 11-02-10
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Acclaimed British historian Anthony Everitt delivers a compelling account of the former orphan who became Roman emperor in A.D. 117 after the death of his guardian Trajan. Hadrian strengthened Rome by ending territorial expansion and fortifying existing borders. And - except for the uprising he triggered in Judea - his strength-based diplomacy brought peace to the realm after a century of warfare.
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A Biography "too tall for the height of the cella"
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In this landmark work, one of the world's most renowned Egyptologists tells the epic story of this great civilization, from its birth as the first nation-state to its final absorption into the Roman Empire - 3,000 years of wild drama, bold spectacle, and unforgettable characters. Award-winning scholar Toby Wilkinson captures not only the lavish pomp and artistic grandeur of this land of pyramids and pharaohs but for the first time reveals the constant propaganda and repression that were its foundations.
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Well Written and Detailed
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Founded by Augustus around 27 BC, the elite Praetorian Guard was tasked with the protection of the emperor and his family. As the centuries unfolded, however, Praetorian soldiers served not only as protectors and enforcers but also as powerful political players. Fiercely loyal to some emperors, they vied with others and ruthlessly toppled those who displeased them, including Caligula, Nero, Pertinax, and many more. Guy de la Bédoyère provides a compelling first full narrative history of the Praetorians.
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Buy it
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In God's Path
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In just over a hundred years - from the death of Muhammad in 632 to the beginning of the Abbasid Caliphate in 750 - the followers of the Prophet swept across the whole of the Middle East, North Africa, and Spain. Their armies threatened states as far flung as the Franks in Western Europe and the Tang Empire in China. The conquered territory was larger than the Roman Empire at its greatest expansion, and it was claimed for the Arabs in roughly half the time.
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Islamic conquest history from the outside
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Best-selling classical historian Barry Strauss tells the story of three-and-a-half centuries of the Roman Empire through the lives of 10 of the most important emperors, from Augustus to Constantine.
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Good for beginners
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In SPQR, world-renowned classicist Mary Beard narrates the unprecedented rise of a civilization that even 2,000 years later still shapes many of our most fundamental assumptions about power, citizenship, responsibility, political violence, empire, luxury, and beauty.
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Shallow and unsatisfying
- By Joe on 02-19-17
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The Norman Conquest
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An upstart French duke who sets out to conquer the most powerful and unified kingdom in Christendom. An invasion force on a scale not seen since the days of the Romans. One of the bloodiest and most decisive battles ever fought.
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A Balanced, Entertaining, and Informative History
- By Jefferson on 06-01-14
By: Marc Morris
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Solid overview 3000 years of history
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Just The Facts And You Will Need Maps
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Alexander never gets...old.
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The Other Side of History: Daily Life in the Ancient World
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Look beyond the abstract dates and figures, kings and queens, and battles and wars that make up so many historical accounts. Over the course of 48 richly detailed lectures, Professor Garland covers the breadth and depth of human history from the perspective of the so-called ordinary people, from its earliest beginnings through the Middle Ages.
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Tantalizing time trip
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Caesar Augustus's story, one of the most riveting in western history, is filled with drama and contradiction, risky gambles and unexpected success. He began as a teenage warlord, whose only claim to power was as the heir of the murdered Julius Caesar. Mark Antony dubbed him "a boy who owes everything to a name," but in the years to come the youth outmaneuvered all the older and more experienced politicians and was the last man standing in 30 BC.
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You know my name...say it.
- By Steven on 12-10-14
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Empire of the Black Sea
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What is commonly called the kingdom of Pontos flourished for over 200 years in the coastal regions of the Black Sea. At its peak in the early first century BC, it included much of the southern, eastern, and northern littoral, becoming one of the most important Hellenistic dynasties not founded by a successor of Alexander the Great. Previous histories of Pontos have focused almost exclusively on the career of its last ruler. Setting that famous reign in its wide historical context, Empire of the Black Sea is an engaging account of a powerful yet little-known ancient dynasty.
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More of an academic journal than a book.
- By Amazon Customer on 07-05-23
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What listeners say about Alexander the Great
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- William Baker
- 02-18-21
Outstanding Knowledge Book
Paul Cartledge does an outstanding job reviewing Alexander the Great's life and influence on Civilization. It concludes with the summary discussion of his Knowledge Management.
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- cachorro-urubu
- 03-25-22
Dont Believe bad reviews
Great narration. very well researched. best if you read a basic biography of alexander first.
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- Blane Richoux
- 12-30-20
NOT a Chronology of Alexander’s Life
For those looking for a chronological retelling of Alexander’s deeds - look elsewhere. This book, while interesting, reads like a collection of scholarly essays on Alexander’s life and spends most of its pages analyzing the meaning or veracity of Alexander’s supposed deeds. The author assumes that the reader already has a detailed knowledge of Alexander’s story. The order of the topics covered in the book does not follow any clear pattern. The author jumps back and forth to different points in time to illustrate his arguments but does a poor job of tying the themes together. This makes the information feel repetitive at times and also random. Overall, it was difficult to keep up with the Author’s themes.
If you have read a number of other books on Alexander, you may find this book interesting and nuanced but I strongly recommend that those new to Alexander consult other books before turning to this one.
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8 people found this helpful
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- steve p.
- 09-26-20
finished with a sense of more respect for the man.
there were a few times in the book where there were so many Greek and Macedonian names being spoken that I didnt even want to pay attention. but I feel like this was due to his desire to show academia that he had done it.
ultimately I have benefitted from this book by expanding my understanding of the man Alexander, and what it was like living in those times so long ago
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- Daniel Morlan
- 11-24-20
Superb Content
Due to the antiquity of the subject matter it is difficult to get all of the details we would wish but the details are rich and well reasoned in their acquisition and most Alexandrian scholars are liable to learn something they didn't know. I had to slow it down to 90 percent but that was no inconvenience. Highly recommend.
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- autumn jones
- 05-03-21
Outstanding
An outstanding listen! Keeps you interested throughout and teaches a lot about mighty Alexander as well.
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- Kindle Customer
- 02-04-22
Beware of unsupervised children and their toys.
Beware of unsupervised children and their toys. How do you write a biography of a God?
It's sometimes hard to remember how much Alexander the Great accomplished in his short 32 year life -- conquering Greece, Persia, much of Asia, and being worshipped as divine being among the highlights. Cartledge's 2005 biography of Alexander (subtitled: "The Hunt for a New Past") eschews the hagiography and presents a lively, reasoned, and well written look at one of history's most influential, fascinating, and admittedly mysterious figures.
Cartledge tries to cut through the fog of god-worship and shows Alexander for what he most likely was, a passionate, motivated, charismatic, but somewhat chaotic young man -- who just happened to have an army at his disposal. Remove Alexander's access to tens of thousands of spears. Would we know his name? Almost certainly not. Or if Alexander didn't come to power until mid to late 20s, would he have been as aggressively expansionist? Would he do so with such a quasi-religious zeal and the certitude of youth in his pursuit of "Pan-Hellenism," which Cartledge largely finds as a pretext for more mundane logistical and strategic goals?
While this is as much a biography of Alexander the Great, it's also gives a glimpse into Alexander the Petty, Alexander the Tyrannical, and Alexander the Paranoid as his efforts to maintain his grip on power and rapid expansion leads to mutinies, reigns of terror/purges, and assassination plots (both real and invented).
Overall, an eminently readable and insightful look into one of history's most fascinating characters.
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- Susan C. J.
- 02-19-22
Interesting Content; Great Narration
Although I'm familiar with the subject matter, I thought I'd give this a try and might learn something new. I didn't actually experience any startling insights, but I enjoyed the author's prose style and loved John Lee's narration. In my opinion John Lee is a brilliant voice actor. He could read an old phone book and make it interesting. I loved his first person narrative in the SPQR series, for instance. So I recommend this book to readers at all levels of knowledge about Alexander and his world,
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- Anonymous User
- 10-25-20
nice introduction to Alexander
I liked it. it was nicely read. does a great job of discussing the difficulties when chasing accurate history. worth while imo.
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- Jimbo Phillips
- 01-20-16
Who was the real Alexander?
Throughout history, people have written of Alexander and his achievements. The accuracy of these accounts is what is in question. Even the accounts written by contemporaries of the man are laced with the writer's own agenda. Paul Cartledge does his best to weave through history to bring us a true description of Alexander as a man, a general, a politician, and much more. Cartledge takes a balanced approach, using his best logic and reasoning skills to give us this portrait. This book is not a chronological study of events, but rather a study of the man behind the myth. It will jump around in time a bit. There has been talk about whether to read/listen this first or not. You may want to familiarize yourself with the basics, as Cartledge will go over specific incidents that you may not have a clue about. That was me, and I admit, the first half of the book was a struggle. By the second half I had caught on to what the author was trying to do, and was able to settle into it. The appendix is actually one of my favorite parts, because Cartledge gives us more insight as to why he came up with some of his opinions. In all, I am not sorry that I didn't know more about Alexander before getting into this book. I learned a lot and was happy to listen a second time, to pick up on the things in the first half that were a bit over my head. This is a very good study of Alexander, and whether you read it first or not, you should read it. The added plus with the audiobook is John Lee. I've listened to his narration many times before, and few are better.
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2 people found this helpful