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Rating: 
Summary: A semenal work that should become a classic.
Review: Alexander by Theodore Dodge is a beautifully written book that delves into all relevant areas relating to Alexander's fight to spread Hellenism. The book gives detailed and unequivoval accounts of his great battles. It also gives one a good understanding for what military technology was available to Alexander at the time. It also focuses on the enemies of Alexander and their military strengths and developments. Theodore Dodge is a military historian and thus he does not go into the culture of both greece and Persia as much as I would have like him to. It is amazing how his work can still remain an authority after 100 years since its first publication. This shows what a great book it is and what an objective writer Theodore Dodge truly is. I have also read Hannibal and Caesar by the same author, and I find them equally great.
Rating:
Summary: A semenal work that should become a classic.
Review: Alexander by Theodore Dodge is a beautifully written book that delves into all relevant areas relating to Alexander's fight to spread Hellenism. The book gives detailed and unequivoval accounts of his great battles. It also gives one a good understanding for what military technology was available to Alexander at the time. It also focuses on the enemies of Alexander and their military strengths and developments. Theodore Dodge is a military historian and thus he does not go into the culture of both greece and Persia as much as I would have like him to. It is amazing how his work can still remain an authority after 100 years since its first publication. This shows what a great book it is and what an objective writer Theodore Dodge truly is. I have also read Hannibal and Caesar by the same author, and I find them equally great.
Rating:
Summary: Greatest general of middle times.
Review: Now, I believe that Alexander the Great had great success because of his link with God. His sole purpose was to unite east and west in a way.
He probably also had a hand in helping the jewish people. Always God has blessed those who have blessed his people.
Now, there are not many books that are accurate with this history of Alexander. Many details are fuzzy.
Stick to this copy of Alexander history. It's probably the most accurate. And not influenced by propopents or haters.
-Calvin Newman
Rating: 
Summary: Sadly superficial
Review: The book's strong points are its detailed maps and illustrations,but it suffers from an unconvincing analysis of Alexander's motives,plans and their results.Dodge has a tendency to take many things at face value and is a modern day victim of Alexander's own propaganda campaign.this is clearly seen in Dodge's failure to implicate Alexander in the assassination of his father Phillip despite overwhelming evidence,his lack of understanding of Alexander's long political struggle against Parmenio's clan for dominance over the army[motive enough for their eventual purge] and of Alexander's shaky relations with the subjugated Greek citystates.Even Dodge's analysis of the key battles of Granicus and Chaeronaea and the siege of Thebes are suspect.As for the most readable part of the book, the narrative of Alexander's conquest,credit is better given to Arrian's primary text.For a far more interesting and convincing look into a man as brilliant and complex as Alexander I would reccomend Peter Green's 'Alexander of Macedon', Fuller's 'Generalship of Alexander ' and Arrian's 'Campaigns of Alexander'.
Rating:
Summary: One of the Best on Alexander The Great
Review: This and the Hannibal and Caesar books in the series provide very detailed descriptions of the battles. What is lacking is any kind of analysis of events and battle tactics and, more importantly, there's no synthesis whatsoever that addresses the Origin and Growth of the Art of War, the theme of the series. For that, the first volume of Delbruck's series is more insightful and the four books by Connolly, Hanson, Goldsworthy, and Warry on greek and roman warfare have more illustrative maps.
Rating: 
Summary: Asia Minor explained
Review: This book is not a biography -- it is a military history of the art of war during ancient times, with Alexander the Great prominently featured. This volume is the first of five (the next three also published by Da Capo Press) that the author uses to describe and prescribe the art of war. In this inaugural book, Dodge effectively defines his terms, principally the term strategy. This is important because this theme is progressed through the times and actions of Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, and Napoleon.Dodge's unique contribution to the subject comes from a few persepectives: first, Dodge was a soldier in the Union Army. His books were all published before the turn of the 20th century. He has often physically walked the terrain, studied the topography, and diligently compares the ancient accounts with common sense observation, with some surprising conclusions. Second, Dodge concentrates on what he is qualified to judge, military operations, tactics, leadership, and morale. He is not interesting in court politics, who loved whom, or how much it cost to outfit an elefant for battle. Many times these aspects are presented, but the author makes pains to state his inability to interpret such events. What he does do is to bring to life the man, his armies, battles, and campaigns. Most of all, the reader gets the sense of the Great Captain's position in the military story of man. There are some weaknesses. There is a sense of "post holing" as Dodge attempts to cover 3000 years of military history and innovation. At times, the military aspects receives more attention than it should, and the books ends rather abruptly instead of leading into the next volume: Hannibal. With these weaknesses in mind the reader will have an enjoyable experience. Dodge's style is crisp, entertaining, humorous at times, and always provocative as he inevitably compares ancient military practices with those that he was familiar with, 19th century America. The whole series is worth its weight.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent book for those interested in ancient history
Review: This is a great book which I would highly recommend for the casual student of ancient history. Mr. Dodge wrote the book shortly after the American Civil War. Some of his facts relating to marginal issues are incorrect, such as ancient Egyption timelines, but this does not detract from his compelling narrative and analysis of Alexander the Great. You'll probably find yourself rereading the chapters on Alexander's stunning victories in battle. Although the book is somewhat long, I can bet you'll soon be scouring Amazon.com for related texts. Check out Dodge's books on Caesar and Hanibal, as well as Fuller's book on Alexander.
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