Customer Reviews

The Ends of the Earth (Alexander, Book 3)

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Alexandre // the vocative of Alexandros well captures the undisputed affection, esteem, dedication, and admiration that most - if not all, Alexandros' men (soldiers, companions, conquered, etc.) felt for this charismatic, fascinating and pervasive leader. Alexander, like Achilleus, lived a short (but glorious) life. Alexander is history whereas Achilleus is myth, but both are legendary heroes that have inspired most of the great men and women who came after them.

Valerio Manfredi has done a brilliant job in completing this trilogy which reminds me of the brilliant work by Mary Renault. Manfredi is an archeologist, a professor of Classics at the best Italian university, and a diligent scholar. What we know about Alexander comes from the fragments of Ptolemaios, Callisthenes, Chares, Ephippus, Nicobule, Onesicritus, Nearchus, Aristobulus, Cleitarchus, as well as the biographies written by Arrian, Plutarch, Quintus Curtius Rufus, Diodorus Siculus, Iustinus, Pompeius Trogus, and more recent works such as the " Romance of Alexander" and the " Alexandros" of Metz, as well as scholars such as Badian and followers. There are still some fragments of the Ephemerisis, that is, the royal journal. Much is unknown as unknown is the place where the body of Alexander had been transported after the Roman Empire's decline.

Manfredi has chosen to rearrange anachronistically some known facts about Alexander's life such as the marriage with Stateira before the one with Roxane and his passionate love for Barsine. He has chosen to create the character of Leptine, a woman, as "personal caretaker and attendant" instead of Bagoas, a eunuch yes, but still a male as for appearances, behavior, strength, and thought processes, as Renault did. He doesn't openly address the relationship between Alexander and Hephaistion, his lifelong friend, love, lover, but most of all most trustworthy companion. He avoids an open discussion about the known bisexuality of the king, an issue that was considered acceptable and suitable in the Hellenic civilization.

Manfredi beautifully reports the mutual affection between Alexander and his horse Bukephalos and the dog Peritas. The pages about the gymnosophist Kalanos, the transmigration of the soul (metempsychosis) as postulated by Pythagoras are truly fascinating.

It's impossible to understand Alexander without having read (and re-read) the Ilias, the mythical life of Achilleus' vision and choices, Aristoteles' body of knowledge and work, the Greek tragedy, mythology, and the antropomorhic conception of the gods. Alexander was a soldier, a general, a leader, and a "strategos." Historians have argued about Alexander's hubris, such as the arrogant belief of being the son (or one of the sons) of Zeus-Ammon, the Gods' father in the Libyan tradition (remember Cyrenae was founded by Battos, citizen of Thera [Santorini]). Later, the emperor Octavianus (Augustus) speculated the vision of an eagle flying away from the tomb of Julius Caesar (Dive) to elevate him to apotheosis. Augustus was inspired by Alexander's greatness, beauty as well as for his dynamic charisma and courage. Augustus wept when he saw Alexandros resting in his sepulcher in Alexandria of Egypt.

Alexander's vision is beyond our reach and very difficult to understand. He lived in a period where reality did often collide with the mythical world. History and legend, myth and epics were all parts of the same continuum with no firm division between the two poles. Alexander, Aristoteles' pupil was a brilliant well-educated man. He loved the arts, poetry, epics, tragedy, philosophy and theater. He was a philanthropist and his lifelong friendship for Thessalos, one of the greatest actors and dranatist of antiquity it's an indication of it. He had interests in medicine, geography, engineering, but most of all he was an outstanding, unique, brave,magnificent soldier and general; actually, he probably has been the most remarkable ever existed.

The historical (and legendary) icon of Alexander reaches its most significant (and emblematic) period in the last five years of his short life. These are also the years where he came to believe he really was the son of Zeus-Ammon as Achilleus was the son of Tethis, a nymph and daughter of Nereus. God's definition is not only the one known by most. Dios (not Theos), godlike , was also a being of supernatural powers, believed in and worshipped by people as well as one that is worshipped or idealized by people (see the Ilias - dios Achilleus). This is also the time when Hephaistion died (Nov. 323 BCE). Alexandros,(as Achilleus after Patroklos' death) still had visions of conquering the rest of the existing world (Arabia, Carthago, Magna Graecia, ...and Rome) but probably these outbursts were the results of his excessive drinking, a mean of self-medication to fill the emotional emptiness).

This is a great book for anyone who wants to see Alexandros as a reminiscence of the legendary Achilleus - a bit less for those who study Alexandros in Academia. "Alexandre" - Oh Alexander - still today, after more than 2300 years, Alexandros is one of the greatest man ever existed, a source of inspiration, fondness, and admiration. Alexandros' icon is a light that will never end burning. He has done and left too much to be forgotten.

I think you learn more about Manfredi in this trilogy then you do of Alexander. He takes a lot of liberties, skips over some of the things we do know about Alexander (so little is known and it feels wrong to skip over what little we do know) and embroiders heavily. If you keep that in mind, the books are a good read. However, if you depend on them to give you a true idea of who Alexander was, how he lived, what he did--even to get an idea of the extend of conquest that Alexander did--you will be seriously misguided by this series. Alexander's relationship with Hespastian was pivotal to his life yet Manfredi hardly touches on it. Alexander's relationship with Bagoas was an important aspect of those times yet Bagoas is hardly even mentioned. Most of Alexander's marriages to women were basically political connections yet Manfredi expands on them (to a degree that rings false if applied to Alexander; perhaps if Manfredi had been Alexander, it may have been that way). The marches Alexander lead his army on through the Hindu Kush, through the desert, through hell basically, was not communicated well in the book; they're made to sound like strained hikes. I think Manfredi missed completely what drove the men to follow Alexander through thick and thin, how the men loved Alexander and for most of those years did everything for him. And I especially detested the ending of this book. Yes, Alexander sickened and died not in battle but was brought down by [disease? poison? multiple physical strains?]--and immediately after his death all that Alexander (and the army) had done, all that had been worked for was all undone by his generals all wanting to be king but none of them up to snuff. If you read this trilogy, just keep in mind that most of the fleshing out is pure Manfredi imagination; don't automatically accept that Alexander felt or said or thought this way. I think Alexander had bigger, deeper, more majestic views of everything that Manfredi can't even begin to guess at.

The third and final chapter of Manfredi's `Alexander' series concludes the epic, and is as beautifully narrated as the first to volumes. Manfredi strikes again with his colour- ful narration and painstaking research. His scholarship continues to amaze.

Emperor Darius of Persia may have suffered a setback, but his armies are still huge and his resources are many. The great battle of Guagemala may have practically dethroned him, but his nobles rebel, and Alexander must face a new host of enemies. The wild plains of the Scythians and the eastern fortresses of the Persians provide new obstacles. Meanwhile discontent breeds among his armies.

Even as Alexander discovers love- the love of Roxanne, a beautiful Scythian princess, his soldiers are weary, and pine for their homes and families. But Alexander is determined to reach the ends of the earth and Porus, the valiant Indian king, and the deserts near the Sea are obstacles he must conquer.

This volume is different from the others. In this third part, Alexander's dark side emerges, and we begin to view him as a grey character, not the hundred percent hero he appears to be in the other volumes. This book is definitely darker than the others, but it still is a fantastic conclusion to an adventure born in the misty mountains of Macedon.

Few authors can be better equipped to write about the history of ancient Greece and Rome than Valerio Massimo Manfredi. Professor of archaeology at the university of Milan, he has carried out many excavations and expeditions in the Mediterranean region. He has produced many factual books on historical matters, mainly military and has still found the time to write several novels and this is one of the best of them.

This book is the last of a triology about probably the greatest warrior and general who has ever lived, bearing in mind that Alexander died at an age when most men are only just starting to make their mark in life. Alexander is of course one of histories most colourful and well know character. Even people with little or not interest in ancient history will have heard of Alexander, a charismatic and larger than life figure.

The final chapter in the life of Alexander sees his military might making their way into the heart of Asia and ever onwards towards the Indian sub continent. The Macedonian army is the mightiest force that has ever been seen and sweeps all before it. Virtually nobody and nothing can put any resistance in the way of its unrelenting advance.

Alexander is not just a destroyer, he has a fine brain and has an ambitious project to unite the people of the empire. This project becomes an obsession with him and he can think of nothing else, until he meets the beauty of Queen Roxanna and this gives him the strength he needs to begin to fulfil his destiny . . .

The author has produced a trilogy of books that will be read for years to come.

Maybe was because I get used to the writer style or because this book is more explicit, but I liked more this book than the other two, it still has many descriptions out of the story and things that happen only in Alexander's mind, how does anyone know what he was thinking at any time?
At the end of the three books you will understand that the way that Alexander conquered Asia and the way he treated the people was amazing and why all the people wanted to be behind him.

I enjoyed this last of the three books just as well as the others. It is hard to imagine how someone could give this book a one start rating, since almost nobody knows that much "real" history about the true intricacies of Alexander's life.

I found not just this book, but all three in the series to be intriguing and mind-grabbing. I finished all three novels in less than 3 weeks! The books are held as close to historical fact as possible, with some room for author opinion. I would recommend this book to anyone who is the slightest bit interested in history, because by the end, you will be so involved with every character that you will love, grieve, and celebrate with them all.

I'm very glad to have finished Manfredi's trilogy: it was good, well-researched and introduced me to Peritas, Alexander's dog. I think that, having read Mary Renault's The Persian Boy, it will be hard for me to really enjoy any narrative retelling of Alexander's conquests. That said, this is a great attempt, I'm not surprised that it was an international bestseller, but...a lot of the major issues were avoided or brushed over: Alexander's bisexuality, the murder of his father, the speculation over the cause of his death, etc. I would highly recommend this trilogy for someone interested in ancient history, but a well-researched biography would certainly be of more use to a scholar. Good reading, entertaining and all that, but it could have been so much more, maybe. Manfredi sticks very closely to the facts and sources, and that's very admirable. We'll let that be the last word.

This is the third book in the trilogy, it is best to start with no. 1, so you can really understand the relationship he has with this boyhood friends/generals. Besides being very well educated, he had a gift in strategy and statesman ship. As it is today, you need loyal people on your team. This book was very well written, it seems that you were right there with him in most of his exploits and personal moments. He was depicted as a man who had a few wives and loves and very respected by his troops and populace. You can always learn from history.

Really enjoyed this book and the other two in the trilogy. The author brings history to life. I learnt a lot