Ghost on the Throne is
a history of the years immediately after the death of Alexander the
Great, as the Diadochi (Successors) battled for mastery of the world.
I have read a small amount on the subject, and was interested to see
how this stacked up.
After Alexander passed
on, it was as if the alpha wolf of a pack had died. But because he
had so many secondary fellows, all of whom acknowledged they were his
inferior but considered themselves equal to their fellows, suddenly
there were a large number of would be alpha wolves looking to get as
much power and influence as possible. No shrinking violets, the upper
echelons of the Macedonian elite were (almost uniformly) personally
brave, quick-witted, devious men hardened by decades of constant
warfare. And the only man capable of reigning over them was gone.
There are ten chapters,
each starting with an overview and then little sections of a few
pages (sometimes less) focused on one individual or a small group in
a given time and place. The approach is interesting, and effectively
disentangles a fluid political and military situation that might
otherwise become too complicated, enabling the various events to be
kept track of more easily.
Whilst I was familiar
with the general progression of events there was new information
about the parts I knew (anecdotes about Antigonus losing his eye and
trusting Demetrius), and a whole slew of completely fresh information
regarding the situation in Athens (as well as bits and pieces
elsewhere).
The level of detail was
spot on. The progression of events was relayed in detail without
getting bogged down in triviality, and the writing style was very
easy to read without being dumbed down.
There’s a focus on
the political (and personal psychology) rather than the military,
which is partly because major battles and direct confrontation were
relatively uncommon.
Another plus was the
map at the start (there are a few others, and some
illustrations/photographs, later on) which overlaid Alexander’s
conquests onto a modern map of Europe/Asia/Africa. It really was
bloody enormous.
So, down sides. Not
many, to be honest. I would’ve liked the book to go on for longer,
though it does end at a natural break point. The references to ‘old
man Antipater’ do get over-used. There are notes, which was a
surprise because there are no symbols/numbers to signify these and I
stumbled across them at the back of the book when I’d finished it
[I also much prefer footnotes to endnotes].
I would recommend this
book to anyone after a history of the aftermath of Alexander’s
death. I think it’s accessible for new history readers, but has a
level of detail that would also satisfy people who already have some
knowledge of the era.
Thaddeus
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