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Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy: The Timeless Leadership Lessons of History's Greatest Empire Builder

Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy: The Timeless Leadership Lessons of History's Greatest Empire Builder

List Price: $13.00
Your Price: $9.75
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Insightful and Entertaining
Review: Partha Bose's new book, "Alexander the Great's Art of Strategy," dances effortlessly between historical play-by-play and strategic analysis, and is thus enjoyable for two groups of readers: Those looking for an easy-to-read recap of Alexander's "greatest hits," and those interesting in Bose's take on the applicability of Alexander's tactics and style to modern problems.

Perhaps the book's greatest strength lies in the author's obvious personal interest in the topic. Instead of keeping a safe distance from the material, Bose makes his personal stake explicit in the introduction and then infuses the narrative and analysis with a wit and flair that can only come from a writer that cares about his subject.

The fact that a few of the connections between Alexander and current leaders are weaker than others does little to take away from the experience. Recommended for anyone interested in military and political history, business, strategy, or a good yarn.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: A must read for strategists & leaders
Review: The flow of this book is in alignment with the thought process of business executives. The USP of this book is it has historical pieces coupled along with strong analysis to churn out wisdom for leaders as well as strategists in every sphere.

May be a few historical points are not spot on in this book. However, the readers of this book should not be in pursuit of history but wisdom acquisition from the life of the greatest conqueror of all time, Alexander the Great, who never lost a war.

This book makes a close analysis into what made Alexander so special. Apart from being gifted with special traits of a natural leader, Alexander was able to make huge magnitude of impact during his short life due to his forward thinking father, Philips of Macedonian. Aristotle, mentor of Alexander, helped him develop a strong analytic framework of mind and appreciation for looking at issues from various perspectives. The book mentions that the "think global act local" approach was first promulgated by Alexander. As one reads on, one will understand how and why many leaders / strategists (in various spheres) over the centuries have been inspired by Alexander the Great.


Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Good book if you like fiction
Review: The people rating this high must be paid to do so. It's just riddled with historical inaccuracy ... Fuller's book on this topic is SO much better that I'm still kicking myself for buying this.

Just because I made the mistake doesn't mean you have to.


Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An intelligent use of history
Review: There is probably a warehouse somewhere filled with silly, fad-driven books on the management lessons to be learned from virtually every major figure in political, military, and literary history. The common problem with these paper-wasting volumes is that the author usually doesn't know much about one or the other side (management/ the individual in question)of the implied learning equation. Happily, that is not the case here. Bose is genuinely knowledgeable both about Alexander and about the real issues that confront senior managers in today's global copmpetitive environment. The result: an all-too-rare commodity: intelligent commentary

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: An amazing book.
Review: This is a beautifully written book, with a great story and numerous lessons in strategy. There is a certain mystery to the book because Bose keeps you guessing as to how he is going to tie the story of Alexander that he is telling with the lessons in business and politics. I had great fun reading the book. I especially enjoyed the chapter where he talks about the seige of Tyre,-considered the greatest in world history and ties it with globalization. A terrific book.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Excellent lessons from history on strategy and leadership
Review: This is a superb book that masterfully draws lessons of strategy and leadership from the life of Alexander the Great. Extremely easy read. I recommend this book highly. I just ordered my second copy to share it around.

Rating: 5 stars
Summary: Two Books In One
Review: This is really two books, nicely woven together, and so it should have a broad appeal. The first book is about Alexander the Great himself, with an emphasis on his strategic and leadership skills. While much has been written about this extraordinary man, it is refreshing to have a new treatment of his exploits which are set in the context of more recent military history throughout the world. The second book, which is why the author wrote it, is to use the life of Alexander the Great to illustrate key principles of strategy and leadership. Students of military history will enjoy this book and learn something about management; students of management will enjoy this book and learn something about Alexander the Great and military history in general.

The book is replete with well-told stories of actions (and the lack of action when appropriate) taken by Alexander the Great as he went about conquering most of the known world in a relatively short period of time. While these concrete examples are interesting, what is even more impressive is to see how much of contemporary management theory was essentially practiced by Alexander the Great nearly 2,500 years ago. Aristotle clearly taught him well, especially in terms of how to push the boundaries of thought and turn ideas into actions.

This book is extremely well-written and demonstrates an impressive grasp of military and business history and management theory. (One can only wonder when the author found time to write it as a management consultant. Perhaps he took advantage of the slow-down in this industry over the past couple of years!!) The "Summary of Key Themes" at the end of each chapter are extremely useful, as is the bibliography.

Despite his enthusiasm for Alexander, Mr. Bose does not engage in hero worship. He is as clear about Alexander's faults and weaknesses as he is about his strengths. The end of the book notes how Alexander failed in some fundamental ways to do the things necessary for his empire to endure. While not built on sand, the foundation of this empire clearly did not match its extraordinary scope.

Nor does Mr. Bose engage in the kind of hysterical hype that is too common in business books today, with the author insisting that he or she has found some new "breakthrough" idea that is a thinly veiled attempt to market a consulting service or cherished academic point of view. The management principles explained in this book are sound and timeless ones. Just because they have been practiced for thousands of years doesn't make them less relevant today. Rather, it demonstrates that they are real and lasting ones. The reader would be hard-pressed to find a more enriching and entertaining way to learn or be reminded of them.


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