Alexander the Great is one of the most famous men in history, and many
believe he was the greatest military genius of all time (Julius Caesar
wept at the feet of his statue in envy of his achievements). Most of his
thirteen year reign as king of Macedon was spent in hard campaigning
which conquered half the known world, during which he was never defeated
in open battle and never besieged a city he did not take. Yet, while
biographies of Alexander abound, there are relatively few full-length
books dedicated to the Macedonian army which made his dazzling conquests
possible and which proved itself the most formidable machine of the
age.
Stephen English investigates every aspect of the Macedonian forces,
analyzing the recruitment, equipment, organization, tactics, command and
control of the fighting arms (including the famous pike phalanxes, elite
Hypaspists and incomparable Companion cavalry), some of Alexander's most
famous battles and sieges are described in detail to show the army in
action. With forensic thoroughness he draws on recent archaeological
evidence and scholarship to present a detailed portrait of the army
which demonstrated a superiority over its opponents equal to (but much
longer-lasting than) that enjoyed by the German forces in the blitzkrieg
campaigns of 1939/40. Alexander's navy is also covered.
