Customer Reviews

The Life of Alexander the Great (Modern Library Classics)

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4 star:		(1)
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I was impressed with this translation of Plutarch's Life of Alexander the Great. The prose was very clear and readable, and I finished the book very quickly. You shouldn't expect a detailed treatment of military or historical topics; the book is less than 100 pages in length, and such was not Plutarch's object anyway. Plutarch's Lives are really discussions of morality and character as evidenced in the lives of great men, and the history surrounding these men is really only a backdrop against which these things are portrayed. Use this book to begin to get a picture of Alexander the man; use other books to flesh out your understanding of Alexander the soldier, the king, and the politician.

Obvioulsy if you're looking at this book you are researching Alexander the Great. Without a doubt Plutarch, Arrian and Curtius Rufus are very important sources on this topic. Don't waste your time reading modern historians' versions of Alexander's life - go straight to these authors. I haven't read any other translations of Plutarch's 'Life of Alexander' but this one is quite easy to read and obviously full of great information. Plutarch is not as critical of Alexander as Curtius Rufus yet doesn't seem to be as much of a flatterer as Arrian. He's a bit in between. Overall, a very fun read although if you didn't want to read all three (Arrian, Curtius Rufus & Plutarch) I'd say that you could skip this one - although it's a fun read and a credible source.

I (an epileptic) have a feeling that I will love this book. I only hope that this one (among many others) have the guts to say that he was an epileptic. I just wonder what degree he was; that is, did he only have petit mals or worse (grand mals, etc.)? The media always speak of his army capabilities. I wonder what his psyche was. Napoleon & Julius Caesar (other war heros) had epilepsy also.

if you intend to use this book for study purposes I strongly suggest you reconsider. It makes no reference to the original section numbers, rendering it virtually useless for academic purposes. And while one may believe one could avoid wasting money on such an edition by sampling it, the free sample does not go beyond the editorial introduction, providing one with no warning of it having abandoned the original section numbers. A waste of money for those who wish to academically reference it.