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This is the third and final entry in a three volume history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, following on from an examination of his army and a study of his sieges. Here the author focuses on Alexander's field campaigns, covering all of his military career as king, from the earlier campaigns in Europe, through the famous battles against the Persians and finishing with the campaigns in Central Asia and India.
English begins by explaining his methodology and examining the surviving sources. This is a very valuable section of the book, allowing the reader to judge the success of the rest of the text.
The author's main aim is to produce coherent battle narratives that make sense of the often contradictory primary sources. I'm not entirely convinced by all of his conclusions, but in each case English explains his reasoning and includes the relevant primary sources, allowing the reader to come to his own conclusions. Having said that, most of his suggested solutions make sense, and his arguments are all well made. English clearly knows his material very well, giving his arguments and conclusions a great deal of credibility.
This is an excellent conclusion to a very useful series, and helps to explain why Alexander was so succesful against so many different opponents.
Chapters
1 - Methodology
2 - The Balkans, 334
3 - The Granicus, 334
4 - Asia Minor, 334-3
5 - Issus, 333
6 - Gaugamela, 331
7 - The Northeast Frontier, 330-27
8 - India, 327-5
Author: Stephen English
Edition: Hardcover
Pages: 245
Publisher: Pen & Sword Military
Year: 2011