★ 05/27/2024

“The last years of Alexander were not just the sordid aftermath of a once impressive career; they were in fact what made him ‘Great,’ ” according to this beguiling biography. Historian Kousser (The Afterlives of Greek Sculpture) argues that, during Alexander’s “quixotic” push eastward after his defeat of the Persian empire in 330 BCE, he experienced a string of “failures” that tempered and matured his outlook. These included his poor handling of mutinies, conspiracies, and the deaths of beloved companions; strategic blundering in response to enemies’ guerilla tactics; and a brush with death on the battlefield. Kousser portrays these setbacks as feeding into Alexander’s larger struggle “com to terms with a world far more complicated than the one in which he was born” as he traveled, and governed, farther from home than people of his era typically ventured. In so doing, Alexander gained an unprecedented glimpse of the way in which human culture varies across vast distances, which altered his political philosophy, Kousser argues; he developed a “hard-won understanding of his enemies and a willingness to compromise” that led to his empire’s most significant legacy, the forging of an “interconnected Hellenistic world” that promoted a new kind of democratic pluralism. Kousser’s novelistic account, with its emphasis on personalities and intrigues, makes for compulsive reading. The result is a fresh and propulsive take on an ancient figure who grappled with how to govern a diverse society. (July)

Get ready for a heart-pounding, mind-bending adventure in Rachel Kousser’s stunning achievement of a book. Sensitively rendered, beautifully narrated, and packed with revelatory insights from a world-class Classics scholar, Alexander at the End of the World mirrors the storied greatness of its hero: bold, adventurous, seemingly unstoppable, and fascinatingly complex. ... all unfolding against a panoramic view of a vast, ancient world that is awesome in its diversity. Here is a modern epic, set in distant times but astonishingly of-the-moment. Journey to the end of Alexander’s world to better grasp ours.  — Ilyon Woo, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Master Slave Husband Wife: An Epic Journey from Slavery to Freedom

“In Rachel Kousser's vivid tale of the last decade of Alexander the Great's life, he comes off the page in all his complexity – his ferocious ambition, lust for conquest, charisma — and his ruthless, often gratuitous violence. Kousser's true achievement, however, is capturing Alexander's genius at welding it all together – fractious Macedonians, Greeks, Persians, and Egyptians — into the world's greatest empire in classical times.” — William Carlson, New York Times bestselling author of Jungle of Stone: The Extraordinary Journey of John L. Stephens and Frederick Catherwood, and the Discovery of the Lost Civilization of the Maya

“A thought-provoking portrait of audacious ambition, triumph, and tragedy in the short, glorious life of Alexander the Great, Rachel Kousser’s compelling account of the tumultuous last years of the young, and wildly successful world conqueror is at once exhilarating and melancholy.” —  Adrienne Mayor, author of National Book Award Finalist The Poison King: The Life and Legend of Mithradates, Rome’s Deadliest Enemy

“A wonderful and insightful account about one of the most famous figures in all history—told with real style and panache. Kousser’s Alexander almost springs to life off the page.” — Peter Frankopan, author of The Silk Roads: A New History of the World

“Writing with the eye of an archeologist, the mind of a tactician, and the pen of a novelist, Kousser gives us a very human Alexander, struggling towards greatness. Her fascinating, truly empire-wide portrait reveals how much of our uneasily interconnected world sprang from Alexander’s ambitions—and how little of his dream of cross-cultural harmony we have yet to achieve.” — Erin Thompson, author of Smashing Statues: The Rise and Fall of America’s Public Monuments

“Without glossing over the horrific violence Alexander wreaked, Kousser delves into his bold attempt to meld Macedonians, Greeks, Persians, and other groups into a transcultural governing elite that would help hold his conquests together. An expert scholar and dramatic story-teller, she has woven ancient literary and archaeological sources into an exciting narrative that invites us into Alexander’s world and shows the significance of understanding that world today.” — Joy Connolly, President, American Council of Learned Societies

"A thoughtful, elegant study that sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating historical figure." — Kirkus Reviews

2024-05-04
A professor of ancient art and archaeology tracks Alexander III through the last years of his Iranian and Indian campaigns, arguing that this period proved his greatness.

Kousser catches up with Alexander the Macedonian king in 330 B.C.E., after four years of wildly successful conquests through Central Asia in pursuit of his rival, Persian Emperor Darius III. Although the Macedonians found the seasoned warrior already assassinated, Alexander resolved to continue his rampage through eastern Persia and down into India for another seven grueling years. The author asks: Why did he press on when his exhausted, devoted army beseeched him to return home, where he could have rested on his laurels and vast riches? Inspired by the Hellenistic ideals taught to him by his early tutor, Aristotle, Alexander chose to embody them. Kousser shows him as a godlike Achilles figure who challenged lions single-handedly, even while he was chided for recklessness by his own men. Although impulsive and quick to anger—e.g., he stabbed his longtime companion Kleitos at a drunken feast, an act he quickly regretted, considering suicide—Alexander evolved as he became more aware of the humanity of the people he conquered. As he pushed his army in pursuit of rogue Persian generals like Bessos through eastern Persia and across the formidable Hindu Kush, he took Persian lovers and a wife, Roxane; assimilated Persian generals into his army; and began to adopt Persian clothes and customs. “The East did not corrupt the Macedonian king,” writes the author. “Instead, from the outset he contained within himself the seeds of everything he would one day become.” Kousser argues astutely that assimilation and integration with those he conquered would ultimately define his enduring legacy. The text includes maps.

A thoughtful, elegant study that sheds new light on an endlessly fascinating historical figure.