Alexander, killer of men - David Lonsdale

'Do you think,' said he, 'I have not just cause to weep, when I consider that Alexander at my age had conquered so many nations, and I have all this time done nothing that is memorable?' Julius Caesar, in Plutarch's Lives

Alexander the Great was the most successful general of the classical era, perhaps in all of human history. His career was an unbroken run of success from his first campaign as a cavalry commander at the age of sixteen until his death at the age of thirty-three. By the end of his life he controlled an empire that stretched from the Balkans to northern India. He was worshipped as a god and became the lasting epitome of worldly success. His name, like that of Genghis Khan and Tamburlaine, is still used today to frighten children in the lands he conquered.

David Lonsdale has been studying Alexander's military techniques for more than ten years, as both a lecturer at the United Services Institute and at the University of Reading. In this absorbing account he explores in detail how Alexander developed and adapted the war machine created by his father, Philip II. Lonsdale shows how Alexander supplemented Greek infantry tactics with the innovative use of the specialist and elite units. Above all, he explains how Alexander perfected the cavalry charge as a battle-winning manoeuvre, based on relentless discipline and heroic leadership.

Essential reading for those interested in the history of warfare, Alexander Killer of Men reflects the latest understanding of Alexander's strategy and fighting techniques. It describes a moment in time when the Macedonian army was the most important institution on earth and its young, terrifying commander the fixed point around which the history of the world revolved. Alexander and his army together constitute an historical event from which our civilisation has yet to recover