Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan 1st Edition

by Frank L. Holt (Author)

18 ratings

ISBN-13: 978-0520249936

ISBN-10: 9780520249936

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What George W. Bush called the "first war of the twenty-first century" actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Accounts of Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria read eerily like news from our own day. In this vivid, meticulously researched, and elegantly narrated book, Frank L. Holt follows Alexander's historical, archaeological, and numismatic legacy back and forth between ancient Bactria and modern Afghanistan. Recounting the plight of the most powerful leader of the time as he led the most sophisticated army of its day into the treacherous world of tribal warlords, Holt describes those grueling campaigns and the impact they had on Alexander, his generals, their troops, and the world. Into the Land of Bones also examines the conflict from the point of view of the local warlords who pushed the invading Greeks to the limits of their endurance—and sometimes beyond, into mania and mutiny. The lively narrative situates the current war in Afghanistan in a broader historical perspective.

Holt explains how the three modern superpowers that have invaded Afghanistan—Britain in the nineteenth century, the Soviets in the twentieth, and the United States in the twenty-first—are continuing the struggle that Alexander began centuries ago. That this legacy continues to play itself out today is a testament to the timeliness of Holt's fascinating and original account.

Editorial Reviews

From the Inside Flap

"Into the Land of Bones is the fullest narrative of Alexander's campaigns in Afghanistan available in English. It is informed by a comprehensive knowledge of the ancient sources, geography, and archaeology of Afghanistan. The work uses the history of Alexander to raise provocative questions about current affairs. Its long-term value, however, lies in its detailed and masterly account of Alexander's Bactrian campaigns in light of the history and geography of Afghanistan. This is one of the most important works on Alexander to appear in the last ten years."—Stanley Burstein, author of Outpost of Hellenism: The Emergence of Heraclea on the Black Sea

“The terrain, climate, and volatile socio-political milieu of Afghanistan have always been a logistical nightmare for invaders. Holt's vivid evocation of Alexander the Great's grueling, brutal, inconclusive war, and the telling parallels he draws with British, Soviet, and U.S. attempts to bludgeon the region into submission, make for grim reading.”—Amelie Kuhrt, author of The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC

About the Author

Frank L. Holt is Professor of History at the University of Houston. He is the author of Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (California, 2003), Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria (California, 1999), and Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia (1988) and editor of The Greeks in Bactria and India (1985).

Paperback: 260 pages
Publisher: University of California Press; 1 edition (July 11, 2005)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 9780520249936
ISBN-13: 978-0520249936
ASIN: 0520249933
Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 0.8 x 8.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Customer Reviews: 18 customer reviews
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,463,961 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1160 in Middle Eastern History (Books)
- #2053 in Asian History (Books)
- #1651 in Ancient Greek History (Books)

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Customer reviews

18 customer reviews

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Jonathan Rubinstein

Argument from history is always dangerous and dubious

February 2, 2008

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

Professor Holt has written a superb book about Alexander the Great's sojourn in what we now call Afghanistan. It is unlikely that he would have written this incisive and careful gem if we had not been attacked by fanatical murderers who were based there. We were attacked, brilliantly and successfully, and we have yet to bring to justice those who plotted this attack. In short, we are still not winning this war we have declared. But Professor Holt is not writing about this directly. What he has done is describe Alexander's attempts to pacify the region in preparation for his assault on what we now know as Pakistan and India.

Alexander was the model of all conquerors after him, not only because he was remarkably successful but because he was audacious and brilliant, as well as remarkably brave and vicious, even by contemporary standards. As Holt shows, Alexander never did pacify the tribes of this region, in part because the geography of mountain valleys, desert and vast open grasslands were a nursery for tribalism. Holt leaves it to the reader to draw conclusions about our sojourn in Afghanistan. He does not compare our policy with Alexander's. How could he since we do not have a real policy. Half of Pakistan could as easily be in Afghanistan, Pashtuns living on both sides of the border.
What Holt does show us with economy and brilliance, that despite the passage of two millenia, dramatic changes in religion and technology, there remains a profound commitment to feud, tribal loyalty, warrior culture and the oppression of women that no democratic country such as we claim to be can bring to heel without destroying our values and self-respect.

12 people found this helpful

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Dhampir

A approachable work

November 24, 2012

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Frank Holt is one of the premiere scholars of Alexander the Great and Central Asia. And this book is a popular distillation of Holt's previous work on Alexander in Bactria and Sogdiana (it also partially addresses some criticism of Holt's previous works and also integrates new scholarship and theories).

Mainly, Holt is comparing Bactria and Sogdiana to modern-day Afghanistan (which can be problematic), however he doesn't seem to stretch things. On the surface, he makes a big deal about topology--which doesn't correspond well at all--however he is using it as an explanation for societal development, which is indeed germane to a discussion of modern-day Afghanistan.

A chief weakness of the book is the citing of economic factors as the spark for insurgency; however apparent insurgent activity occurs before the events Holt stresses. It might have been profitable to discuss resistance under Bessus versus insurgency under Spitamanes.

But the strengths are legion. Holt relates the material well and it is clear and readable for his intended popular audience. In many ways, this popular book is a greater work than his previous scholarly work "Alexander the Great and Bactria".

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D. Olpadwala

Four Stars

January 10, 2017

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Very interesting following Alexander's campaigns.

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Bex

Good Read

April 6, 2010

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I love history but I hate reading all the dry material. I want to learn and be entertained at the same time. I also don't like the material to be so above my head that I have no idea what is going on the book. This book is great if you are like me and have trouble focusing reading, it manages to keep your attention. It also goes into great detail and makes you feel like you could possibly know Alexander and Afghan people.

One person found this helpful

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A Great Title!

July 2, 2008

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For those who enjoy popular history, "Into the Land of Bones" presents a good fast-paced read. Certainly, the author's thesis that the military protagonists of the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries--the British, the Russians, and the United States--have not learned the lessons of history that Afghanistan [Alexander's Bactria and the Hindu Khush] ought to have taught them is undeniable. And Alexander's exploits are always compelling, especially the accounts of his deteriorating relations with his army in the unforgiving land that is today's Afghanistan.

Unfortunately, however, this is Alexander-Lite. Other than his primary thesis on the Afghan quagmire, if one might use the term, the author does not delve deeply into the issues. Relying on tendentious evidence, he presumes to enter the mind, for instance, of Roxane, who "may have wished to remain anonymous married quietly to a local villager" [91]. Mercifully, he does not probe the psyche of Thalestris, Queen of the Amazons, who wanted to have Alexander's baby! It is difficult to take such speculations seriously.

On a more serious note, the author omits any discussion of the major problem confronting scholars when evaluating the evidence for Alexander the Great: that the primary sources, which he does cite, are actually secondary sources, who are relying on lost eye-witness accounts, many of which had their own agendas. The author's splendid title, which immediately grabs the reader's attention, presents an example. In his recurring discussion of the "devouring dogs" that gnaw the bones of the dead and the dying at Zariaspa (Bactra), he cites the 1st-century geographer, Strabo (11.11.3), and two secondary sources. He neglects to inform us, however, that Strabo cites Onesicritus of Astypalaia as the source of this gruesome tale. Although Onesicritus constitutes an eye-witness of sorts, he is ridiculed by the ancient sources, including Arrian, as being both fanciful and mendacious. Alexander himself, according to Plutarch, threw Onesicritus' tales into the Indus River and told their author that he ought to jump in after them for writing such trash. And that is my biggest criticism of this book; that the author is extremely selective in his citations. So although I would not recommend the book as a reading for a serious course on Alexander the Great, I would recommend it as an entertaining book for the general public who doesn't care a whit about the picky-picky nature of scholarship.

After all, no matter what any of us think, Alexander will remain Great. Otherwise we wouldn't keep reading about him.

16 people found this helpful

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boygenuis

Great read

February 24, 2012

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This was an interesting book. I thought it would be dry and a struggle, but I found myself barely able to put it down. Plus, it's not such a long read. I recommended this, along with some other books, to a few of my colleagues who didn't have a solid, historical background knowledge of Afghanistan.

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walter

Great book.

March 8, 2014

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I had to buy it for a class and really enjoyed it. I have been to Afghanistan, it was very interesting read.

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Michael D. Teves

It's just ok..

July 29, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Interesting when it focused on Alexander's campaigns in Afghanistan, not so much the last half talking about coins and whatnot.

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Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan 1st Edition