The Landmark Arrian: The Campaigns of Alexander, Editor James Romm

This is my review of The Campaigns of Alexander: The Landmark Arrian, edited by James Romm, c.2010, at Amazon.com.

Regardless of the subject, for me to consider reading a book, it has to "feel right" with regard to the paper, the binding, the font, the "look." Only then will I actually take time to read a few lines to see if it holds my attention. And across the board this book is incredible.

First: the background, the preface, the introduction by the editor and others provide a wonderful explanation of how the Landmark books are laid out. It is the kind of book that allows one to skip around, reading introductory material and appendices before tackling the body.

The book itself, the translation of Arrian's history of Alexander's campaigns by Pamela Mensch is so refreshing. There are times I feel I am reading a contemporary history, and not a history that was written 2,000 years ago.

The book is so well laid out that whenever one comes across an unfamiliar person or place, it is a pleasure to quickly find the answer in the references: the glossary, the index, or the maps.

The book is heavily annotated, but after a while I found myself skipping the footnotes and just reading the history, to appreciate Arrian's writing and Mensch's translation.

The appendices alone are worthy of their own book.

The appendices:

• Arrian's Sources and Reliability
• Greek and Macedonian Ethnicity
• Alexander the Man (and God?) with great discussion of his sexual preferences
• Alexander's Army and Military Leadership
• Alexander's Inner Circle
• Money and Finance in the Campaigns of Alexander
• The Persian Empire and Alexander
• Alexander at Persepolis
• Alexander in Central Asia
• The Indian Campaign
• Alexander's Policy of Perso-Macedonian Fusion
• The Alexander Romance
• Alexander and the Greeks
• Alexander's Geographic Notions
• Alexander's Death: A Medical Analysis
• Alexander's Death: The Poisoning Rumors
• The Royal Macedonian Tombs at Aigeai
• Arrian's Life and Works

I paid full-price for the paperback; have no regrets. I'm sure you can get an even better deal at Amazon. Even if you are not a history buff or a fan of Alexander, there is so much detail, so much information about the Macedonians, the Greeks, the Persians, the Indians, you will be rewarded.

Almost 500 pages, including index, etc.