Alexander: The Virtues Of War

November 24, 2008
Estimated reading time:
2 minutes
"As a boy I instinctively understood the ground, the march, the occasion, and the elements. I comprehended the crossing of rivers and the exploitation of terrain; how many units of what composition may traverse such and such a distance, how swiftly, bearing how much kit, arriving in what condition to fight. The drawing up of troops came as second nature to me: I simply looked; all showed itself clear. My father was the greatest soldier of his day, perhaps the greatest ever. Yet when I was ten I informed him that I would excel him. By twenty-three I had done so."

Alexander: The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield

This book tells the story of Alexander the Great and his military conquests from a first person perspective, and technically it is fiction, as the author has taken a few creative liberties here and there (as he admits in the first few pages). I bought this book on Saturday and started reading it today. It's brilliant. I plan on getting everything that Pressfield has written over the next month or two - he's written books about the Battle of Thermopylae and the Peloponnesian War. Add it to the wish list.

Related posts

Did you like this?

I write a semi-regular newsletter called Human Capital, to help you become a better, healthier, happier leader.

Sign up below and you’ll get the very next one. No spam, ever, I promise.