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  • Alexander the Great

  • Written by: Philip Freeman
  • Narrated by: Michael Page
  • Length: 12 hrs and 34 mins
  • 4.8 out of 5 stars (168 ratings)

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Alexander the Great

Written by: Philip Freeman
Narrated by: Michael Page
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Publisher's Summary

Alexander was born into the royal family of Macedonia, the kingdom that would soon rule over Greece. Tutored as a boy by Aristotle, Alexander had an inquisitive mind that would serve him well when he faced formidable obstacles during his military campaigns. Shortly after taking command of the army, he launched an invasion of the Persian Empire, and continued his conquests as far south as the deserts of Egypt and as far east as the mountains of present-day Pakistan and the plains of India.

In his lively and authoritative biography of Alexander, Philip Freeman describes Alexander's astonishing achievements and provides insight into the mercurial character of the great conqueror. Alexander could be petty and magnanimous, cruel and merciful, impulsive and farsighted. Above all, he was ferociously, intensely competitive and could not tolerate losing - which he rarely did.

As Freeman explains, without Alexander, the influence of Greece on the ancient world would surely not have been as great as it was, even if his motivation was not to spread Greek culture for beneficial purposes, but instead to unify his empire.

©2011 Philip Freeman (P)2017 Tantor

What the critics say

"An accessible biography...readers are sure to come away from Alexander's story with an essential grasp of the details and understanding of his character." ( Kirkus)

What listeners say about Alexander the Great

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    5 out of 5 stars

Edifying

This book - clearly written for a broad audience - is well-researched and well-delivered. There are literally tens of thousands of PhD dissertations written on Alexander the Great - the legendary king has been researched extensively by literary scholars, archeologists, military historians, and philosophers - and Phillip Freeman does a marvellous job compiling the fruits of that research.
This book translates mounds of information into an easily-digestible biography that uses occasionally disputed sources to provide a solid understanding of the ingenious/ruthless Macedonian King that changed warfare forever, affected the very structure of Europe, Egypt & Asia, and spread Western culture further than it had ever extended. Freeman's writing is clear and never boring, he follows an impressively logical linear chronological structure, and his descriptions of life in the mid-300s B.C. immerses readers in Alexander's world. This isn't a book mired in names, dates, and numbers.. this is rather an exemplary historical biography written with the general public in mind.

As to the performance.. this is the best reading execution I have heard from Michael Page. His timbre and cadence are spot-on, his accent & baritone reading voice actually strengthen the text (rather than distracting from it), and his attentive tone keeps listeners focused.. Page is clearly interested in what he's reading.
(Having heard him many times before, I think the key to this quality performance is that there is no dialogue - Page is awful at voice-acting).
The only really notable deficiency in the narration is a slightly too-quick pace given all of the names & locations (slowing playback speed to 0.90X was necessary to yield an optimal experience). I recommend the technique.

Taken altogether, this Tantor Audio product merits 9 stars out of 10. I could see professional historians demanding more scholarly work, but they might do better sticking to Course Syllabi. This audiobook format is perfect for casual consumers like me.. interested in ancient history but not preoccupied with footnotes and references. Spend the Credit.

ATTN PRODUCERS: Adding a PDF with maps for listeners to follow would improve this audiobook considerably

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4 people found this helpful

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Good Listen

Listened to the audio book with the intentions of understanding Alexander's philosophy, and character as a man, since he was a student of Aristotle. The book has very few quotable moments, and lessons of philosophy, but the narrator does a great job reading. If you're a historian, this audiobook might good for you, but I can't say the same for people intrested in philosophy.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great listen, not dry

I was skeptical about listening to a history book, but I had seen reviews saying that it was made as a story and designed to be interesting. It lived up to it.

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    4 out of 5 stars
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Very interesting man

I enjoyed this. narrator was excellent, and they story was good. hard to follow at times, but I'm sure if I was more knowledgeable of that era it would've been easier to follow.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Must read for everyone

Author is perfect. Alexander is incredible. His voyage exposes the world of the past through the eyes of multiple historians. Fans of history need to read the story of the greatest man in the whole of the ancient world.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars

very impressive

This historical account of Alexander the Great was impressive, easy to listen to, and beautifully narrated. I was eager for more Michael Page did such a fine job narrating. I have read Philip Freeman' Julias Caesar and was pleased that Alexander thrilled me as much. A real treat and entertaining leaving me with a richer appreciation for Alexander and his military ingenuity. It helped me to slow down the narration speed to 90 and it actually made listening even better.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great insight into that historical period

I don't always listen to a book "cover to cover" but this one kept me interested all the way through. I enjoyed it and the only disappointment was when it was over. I want more

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

great overview

narrator was a bit fast. i slowed it down just to hear all the names and places. incredible story and enjoyed how the writer just gave the story. not so much the dates or the in depth information. just a general overview and was very enjoyable. I'd listen again and probably will!

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Well written and narrated

Loved every minute of it and kept me hooked. It sometimes got difficult to follow which area Alexander was in because I am not familiar with the names. Though having a sneak peak on google what the travels where can put the story in context. Enjoy

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Fantastic story

No matter how much you know Alexander, this is a thoroughly enjoyable read for anyone.

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  • BadGuidance
  • 2017-06-18

Great book!

This book is a great account of Alexander. There is a bit of liberty taken by the author in the rational of some of the Alexander's choices, but it is never outlandish and very much makes sense. There is even some well needed wit thrown into the copy which is refreshing given the dry nature of history books.

The narrator is great and I'm now convinced that Alexander must be discussed in an English accent.

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36 people found this helpful

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  • Andrew
  • 2018-06-04

Not interesting. Only partially historical.

Written strictly from a 21st century perspective with lots of conjecture on the part of the author.

This author’s story of Alexander is not worth reading. Not interesting and it’s hard to tell the true history apart from the opinions of the author.

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31 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Ben
  • 2019-11-02

SHOCKING!

The last page of the book reflected my feelings throughout the book, that he was a narcissist, addicted to killing and his own glory! Yet, because of him, because of this history, the Bible was written in Greek. So important to remember that God’s hand is on everything. Yet, the images of his men chasing women and children into caves and slaughtering them, chasing totally innocent people to kill them, taking everything from other human beings will stay in my mind forever. What monsters they were! Worse than Hitler! Did they not have consciences? The reading of the book is excellent. I’ll never forget it. Funny, I am planning my trip to Greece and had included Thessalonika because of the history there and close by. After reading this book, I cancelled. VERY insightful. You’ll get tremendous detail with this book! What a sad period of time. What Alexander and his men did was unbelievable!

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12 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Jeanette
  • 2018-02-09

Great audio book!

If you are at all interested in history, this is an excellent book about the life of Alexander the Great! I would definitely recommend it.

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11 people found this helpful

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  • Kindle Customer
  • 2018-01-21

great book, definitely hard to put down

great book, easy listen,very interesting subject matter, written for average person. some history books are super dry filled with tons of academic language and obscure anecdotes. not this one listen and enjoy!!

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  • Kay
  • 2017-05-14

A vivid engaging storytelling that comes alive!

Highly informative, entertaining, and detailed account of one of the world's greatest warriors. A must have!

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11 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Aziz Gazipura
  • 2018-03-06

Fascinating!

A fast-paced, highly engaging catalogue of Alexander’s life. I came into it knowing nothing about this era of history, and could easily follow along. It inspired me to read many more biographies and study history more in general. A testament to Philip Freeman being an excellent author and teacher!

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10 people found this helpful

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  • Arizona Wildcat
  • 2021-04-25

Well-researched and narrated, but 5 stars????

I read a large number of 5-star reviews of this work. After finishing the book, I wonder if I listened to the same book. For an historical work of this kind, in my opinion, it should include at least a basic timeline as an attached pdf file and a basic geographical guide to reference some of the lesser-known sites featured in this history. Yes, I can Google all of these places and try to piece things together these things by time and place, but an exceptional work should include these things to clarify the history and events. As it is, this work lacked a coherent geographical and chronological frame of reference which I will need to find elsewhere. I would call this a good draft that could have been better. However, I was very impressed with some sections that were carefully written with great detail.

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9 people found this helpful

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    5 out of 5 stars
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  • Lauren
  • 2018-02-06

Great narration, just a little fast

Solid, engaging writing with a wonderful narrator. My only complaint is the narration was fast, so I listened at 0.75 speed. Highly recommended this book for an Alexander bio plus context.

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6 people found this helpful

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  • Amazon Customer
  • 2018-12-28

Loved it!!!

One of my fav audiobooks I’ve listened to. Great balance of facts and objective interpretation.

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3 people found this helpful