354 pages
English language
Published Nov. 14, 2006 by Broadway Books.
354 pages
English language
Published Nov. 14, 2006 by Broadway Books.
In words that might have been ripped from today's combat dispatches, Pressfield, novelist of ancient warfare, returns with a recreation of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms in 330 B.C., a campaign that eerily foreshadows the tactics, terrors, and frustrations of contemporary conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Narrated by Matthias, a young infantryman in Alexander's army, this book explores the challenges, both military and moral, that Alexander and his soldiers face as they embark on a new type of war and are forced to adapt to the methods of a ruthless foe that employs terror and insurgent tactics, conceals itself among the civilian populace, and recruits women and boys as combatants.--From publisher description.