Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth [Hardcover]

Norman F. Cantor (Author)

Book Description

Series: Eminent Lives | Publication Date: December 13, 2005

"Alexander's behavior was conditioned along certain lines -- heroism, courage, strength, superstition, bisexuality, intoxication, cruelty. He bestrode Europe and Asia like a supernatural figure."

In this succinct portrait of Alexander the Great, distinguished scholar and historian Norman Cantor illuminates the personal life and military conquests of this most legendary of men. Cantor draws from the major writings of Alexander's contemporaries combined with the most recent psychological and cultural studies to show Alexander as he was -- a great figure in the ancient world whose puzzling personality greatly fueled his military accomplishments.

He describes Alexander's ambiguous relationship with his father, Philip II of Macedon; his oedipal involvement with his mother, the Albanian princess Olympias; and his bisexuality. He traces Alexander's attempts to bridge the East and West, the Greek and Persian worlds, using Achilles, hero of the Trojan War, as his model. Finally, Cantor explores Alexander's view of himself in relation to the pagan gods of Greece and Egypt.

More than a biography, Norman Cantor's Alexander the Great is a psychological rendering of a man of his time.

--This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

The last work of the late historian Cantor (In the Wake of the Plague) is a flat and uninspiring study of a leader of gigantic proportions and unparalleled courage. Drawing heavily on previous modern biographies, as well as on biographical sketches from Plutarch, Arrian and other ancient writers, Cantor recreates Alexander's world, his military campaigns and his family life. Cantor mechanically traces Alexander's military exploits through Persia, Jerusalem and India, where he often freed the people of one region from a tyrant and then enslaved them himself. In tantalizing brevity, Cantor provides a picture of the bloody civil wars, the superstition and fears, and the environment of honor and shame in which the young prince grew up. Alexander's reputation as a chivalrous leader developed much later, Cantor says, both in the Alexandrine romances of the first century and in Christian legend and lore of the Middle Ages. The author clearly demonstrates that Alexander's greatness derives primarily from his abilities as a field commander rather than from his abilities as a political leader. Regrettably, Cantor offers no startling information that would help distinguish his short biography from the more complete and detailed works of Robin Lane Fox, Peter Green or Michael Wood. Map.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

*Starred Review* Has the famous Macedonian king been "done to death"? Several biographies of the conqueror of what was then the "known" world have appeared recently; however, turn to this extremely useful one for its incomparable mix of insight and cogency. Professor Cantor, author of, among other books, the best-selling In the Wake of the Plague (2001), begins with a trenchant explanation of the context for understanding Alexander--the tenets of ancient Greek culture--which is matched, as if by a second bookend, by the author's equally solid concluding--chapter summation of the man's "greatness." In between lies the heart of the book, in which Cantor, easing the reader along in an effortlessly styled, smoothly flowing narrative, reconstructs the events in Alexander's life; but more difficultly, given the expanse of time between then and now, he offers a valid evaluation of the man's character. Military exploits (in Alexander's case, of course, military talents) are excitingly revivified, and honesty is the hallmark of Cantor's appreciation of Alexander's relationship with his longtime male lover, Hephaestion. A book that does the biographical art proud. Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 192 pages
• Publisher: Harper; 1ST edition (December 13, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0060570121
• ISBN-13: 978-0060570125
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 2.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #664,195 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #47 in Books > Biographies & Memoirs > People, A-Z > ( A ) > Alexander the Great

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Easy-to-read summary, March 17, 2006

By 

Nicholas Warren (New York, NY USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth (Hardcover)

This book should be evaluated for what it was intended to be by the author, and not for what it was not!

This is a very broad summary intended for laypeople, not a detailed book for professional historians (nor even, really, for students studying the period). If you want to go much deeper, do read Robin Lane Fox's biography, which is scholarly. As such, I think it did a good job. It is written with a lightness of style - almost journalistic - and can be read in its entirety easily in a day. Initially, I found the anachronistic comparisons to modern events (e.g., Iraq War) a little intrusive and grating, but later I thought: why not? After all, if it helps to make ancient history have some relevance for the reader and encourages the lay-reader to learn more about the past then, so be it, the end justifies the means.

I have now enjoyed several of Norman Cantor's history books, partly for their light, summary nature, and partly for his easy and engaging writing style. They well suit non-fictional reading at the end of a hard day's work, when concentaration levels are, inevitably, not at their peak. I encourage the reader to try more of Norman Cantor's books if you liked this one, or to try this one if you liked other books of his.

For what it was intended to be, an interesting and engaging book.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars An Uninspiring Journey to the End of the Book, December 31, 2005

By 

Vergacus (Minneapolis) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth (Hardcover)

With all due respect to the late Professor Cantor, the text needed a moderately interested editor. While amusing factoids and insights occasionally appear in it (though hardly provocative), much of the book reads as well as an undergraduate term paper for an introductory history course. There is a lack of cohesiveness and flow throughout the chapters, which sometimes lose focus. Considering the credentials and past successes of the author, I have to believe that an earlier draft of the book was mistakenly given to the printers. While a succinct piece on Alexander is welcome, this book sadly fails to provide an insightful and satisfying snapshot of the conqueror.

In my opinion, if readers are interested in an engrossing psychological examination of the historical Alexander, they would be better served by Michael Woods' documentary and/or companion book.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Don't bother, many more book out there to buy., December 31, 2005

By 

Hannibal "hannibalcarthage" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth (Hardcover)

I think I have found one of the worst books I have ever read about the King of Macedon. In this small book of less than 200 pages I learned nothing that I did not already know about the life of Alexander. There is suprisingly little detail and depth to the subject and after finishing the book I wondered why the author even bothered writing a book on the man. Cantor even rehashes at length the biased myth brought forth by the Romans that Alexander and his army would have been unable to conquer the city of Rome. This idea is mere speculation and propaganda that the author and ancient Roman historians could not support. At the time of Alexander's death Rome was still a backwater town with no standing professional army, little cavalry, no navy, and had recently been trounced and plundered by marauding Celts. I would suggest spending your $20 on other books about Alexander the Great by authors like Green, Cartledge, Dodge, Fox, Fuller, Hammond, Wilcken, or even Wood.
Hannibal