Customer Reviews

Alexander the Great

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With all the recent interest in Alexander its not surprising that biographies new and old are popping up all over the place. Lewis Cummings 1940 bio of Alexander is certainly not one of the better known, nor is it the most distingished either. Though written in English his account is often less clear than Ulrich Wilken's German translated bio from a few years earlier.

Like most bios this one starts out a bit slow with all the heavy-duty background info. about the orgins of the Macedonians and the development of their monarchy over the centuries. Cumming's rather wordy explantions does not make this difficult historical background easy to comprehend either. Despite what is purported as a readable work, the first 50 pages are a real push!

Once we pass with background and get into Alexander himself the narrative start to pick up. Still, Cummings is fond of erodite expressions and typically English round-about explanations. These often cloud the narrative. One reviewer noted that since Cummings's was a cartographer how come there are not more maps in the book! This would certainly help as he is fond of discussing all sorts of obscure place names that Alexander allegedly trammped through. Most bios don't go into such detail on the locales because many of these places aren't around anymore. They certainly don't debate the topic as much as here. For all the descriptions about locales that the author may have seen in person, his actual discussions about Alexander are limited. There are a few good points made here and there, and when not mentioning obsure hill towns in detail the narrative can actually be good at times.

Its hard to figure where Cummings stands with Alex. One gets the impression he is firm admirer in the first half of his career up until the death of Darius III, but after that he believes his subject just becomes a brutal conqueror. Some good points here that could have been debated more. Overall this is an average bio at best. I would recommend Wilcken's from this period of research more as its concise, debates important points, and is a better read. This would not be a good first work to read on Alexander in my opinion. Having read other better works the reader might like to take a look at this one just to compare. Not one of the better older Alex bios out there for sure.

I received this book as a birthday present. The book gives an interesting, readable and evenly balanced biography of Alexander the Great's life. One wonders how much time must be required researching such a work as this! It wasn't until I was halfway through the book and had read the Amazon reviews that I realized the book's first copyright was in 1940. The account remains fresh decades later.

As others have mentioned, however, the book is slightly deficient map-wise. As I was reading the first chapter, "Philip of Macedon", I started looking at the various maps throughout the book to try and locate the place-names being discussed. The first chapter desperately needs a map! With regards to the remaining maps, they are difficult to read due to lack of shading to indicate the principal bodies of water. Improvement of the existing maps plus inclusion of one or two additional maps would add much to the enjoyment of this book. It would also be nice to have a portrature of Alexander and some of the other characters mentioned in the text. I'm sure the archaelogical findings of the last 70 years could be used to add photos and illustrations to make this already great book superb! Maybe this can be done in a future edition.

I enjoyed this book. I found the text to be very readable. The main complaint I have for this book is that there are very few maps. If you are not thoroughly versed in the geography of Alexander, then you will either be confused or forced to have a world atlas at your side while you read. Cummings is supposed to have been a cartographer but he does not use many maps. Besides the lack of images or maps, the book is a fun book to read. If there were more maps and images, I would give the book a five.

More than you ever wanted to know about Alexander. Overall, an interesting and comprehensive read. The footnotes are exhausting, listing information about the geographic and meteorological changes that have taken place over the last two thousand years. (Makes you feel like an archaeologist.) His detailed notes on Alexander's military strategies was fascinating. Couldn't help but appreciate Cummings' dedication to the study of such a tremendous figure in ancient history. Take your time with this one.

Don't be fooled by the recent edition of this book which makes it appear to be a new publication right down the New York Times blurb. It is not (published in 1940), and the age not only shows, but makes this book a bear to read.

The story is told in long, dry prose and a lot of the language is outdated and outmoded. The style of telling a history has also changed quite a bit since this book was written, and the modern reader will find it too full of facts and skim on analysis. When reading, I often felt like I was reading an anthology of the four ancients Cummings uses as sources.

I imagine to a mid-20th century reader the text may not be so jarring, but to modern consumers it can positively make your eyes bleed. The subject matter itself is fascinating and the book is obviously well researched which is why I gave it an extra star. However, I can not recommend this book to anyone who wants a casual introduction to this world historical individual or wants to know what really made him tick.

As an aside, I made it through this book by imaging the words being narrated by Alec Guiness (think: Obi Wan Kenobi) as I read them. I include this detail to give some flavor to my review of this book. If you enjoy lectures by British [Great] Grandfathers, then perhaps this book is for you...