A Betsy Carpenter (no idea who she is) is the writer for the first chapter, Charismatic King of Macedonia: Alexander the Great. The publication supposedly gives the general public a new look at various conquerors (as in "untold" stories) and here it reflects the new outlook on Alexander, intending to be a realistic approach to his life, but one that I know is frequently viewed as hostile by many an admirer here. You know who you are!
Quite a few recognizable authorities on Alexander are quoted, including our own Jona Lendering. Very brief excerpts below: "Historians have applauded Alexander for treating his opponent's family with respect . . .But this gentlemanly behavior is better seen as a claim to the throne than as an act of chivalry, argues Jona Lendering, author of the new book Alexander de Grote. . ." And then there's V. D. Hanson (anyone surprised to find him here?) "The son's contribution? The impulse to annihilate. Greek soldiers had long been respected for their skill and willingness to fight to the death - indeed, many ancient rulers employed them as mercenaries. But before Alexander they mostly met on small battlefields where they thrust and stabbed for an hour or so before one side gave up and the killing stopped. Alexander, however, practiced 'total pursuit and destruction of the defeated enemy,' Hanson argues, 'ensuring battle casualties unimaginable just a few decades earlier.' " On the cultural effects of Alexander's conquest, Walter Burkert (who has a new book out called Babylon, Memphis, Persepolis: Eastern contexts of Greek Culture), argues that the "idea that some sort of cultural firewall existed between east and west before Alexander is wrongheaded." Andrew Stewart tells us that most peoples only real contact with Greek culture was "when soldiers came through and grabbed their chickens for food," while a David Potter of the U. of Michigan says that Alexander persisted with his Persianization efforts because "he recognized that he couldn't control his empire without a buy-in from the conquered" and not because he envisioned "the peoples of the world singing 'Kumbaya' together on the banks of the Euphrates." Continued . . .