Scan barcode
atuin's review against another edition
challenging
informative
4.0
A detailed look at Phillip of Macedonia, is famous son Alexander, and the aftermath of his conquests. The lecturer focuses on how the foundations Philip built in Macedon, how Alexander used those foundations to achieve spectacular military victories, the economic/cultural issues surrounding his army, and some of the surrounding context for how people in different eras thought of Alex. This lecturer definitely leans towards a positive view of Alexander, although he does acknowledge the opposing negative view before arguing against it. Near the end, he insists that without Alexander, we would not have Jesus, which I thought was going a bit far, but aside from that this is a very well researched and interesting lecture.
miguelito_juanito's review against another edition
informative
reflective
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Colonisation
aront's review against another edition
5.0
The great courses almost always live up to their name and this one was exceptionally great. The lecturer is passionate, brilliant, and entertaining. A huge admirer of Phillip II and Alexander, he nonetheless consistently focuses on providing persuasive evidence and cogent arguments to back up his strong opinions. Whatever you think about Alexander the man, there is no doubt he changed the course of history as few others have. Whether you agree or not, you will come away having learned a tremendous amount on the period from the end of the Classical Greek world to the beginning of the Roman empire and the enduring influence and impact of Alexander and his conquest of much of the ancient Eurasian world.
hylian_pirate's review
2.0
This is a course in an audiobook format but I will review it as an audiobook because it's Goodreads but that might be unfair so take care.
I had many problems with this audiobook. For one, it's boring like an actual university course. He rushes through the topics and I feel some sequences deserve more details. Each chapter is 30 minutes long (like a lecture) so he can't spend too long on one topic.
He doesn't explain the events like a story as much as I like. For example, he doesn't care about spoilers. He can introduce a character in the beginning then say that this guy will betray Alexander later. It makes sense from an academic sense but not from a storytelling one.
The story is still fun during Philip and Alexander's parts. I kinda got bored during the end after Alexander's death. I got all those characters mixed up because he just throws a name and you're supposed to remember them without spending too much time on their personality. Speaking of personality, this course focuses more on the battles and not on the personalities.
All in all, this still made me really excited to read novels or historical fiction about Alexander the Great.
I had many problems with this audiobook. For one, it's boring like an actual university course. He rushes through the topics and I feel some sequences deserve more details. Each chapter is 30 minutes long (like a lecture) so he can't spend too long on one topic.
He doesn't explain the events like a story as much as I like. For example, he doesn't care about spoilers. He can introduce a character in the beginning then say that this guy will betray Alexander later. It makes sense from an academic sense but not from a storytelling one.
The story is still fun during Philip and Alexander's parts. I kinda got bored during the end after Alexander's death. I got all those characters mixed up because he just throws a name and you're supposed to remember them without spending too much time on their personality. Speaking of personality, this course focuses more on the battles and not on the personalities.
All in all, this still made me really excited to read novels or historical fiction about Alexander the Great.
bahnree's review
4.0
I really liked this for the most part. It's very comprehensive, beginning with a few lectures on Macedon, Greece, Persia, and Phillip II; then Alexander; then a few lectures covering the war of succession and the Macedonian Empire in partition. As a good overview to Alexander, especially if you know nothing, this is really good and well-organized, as well as entertaining (Harl has an extremely dry humor that I loved).
Harl REALLY likes Alexander, though. There seems to be no happy medium between Alexander historians who think he was the worst tyrant ever and historians who think he was the best conqueror ever. Harl falls into the trap of justifying even Alexander's worst moments.
An example of this is the question of whether Alexander was a drunk. In one lecture, Harl explains that Alex didn't drink that much, especially for a Macedonian, and was basically a social drinker. IN THE VERY NEXT LECTURE, Harl explains that it's not Alex's fault that he murdered Cleitus because he was INCREDIBLY DRUNK. Then later, re: Alexander's death, Harl dismisses poison and names "heavy drinking" as a factor.
Harl REALLY likes Alexander, though. There seems to be no happy medium between Alexander historians who think he was the worst tyrant ever and historians who think he was the best conqueror ever. Harl falls into the trap of justifying even Alexander's worst moments.
An example of this is the question of whether Alexander was a drunk. In one lecture, Harl explains that Alex didn't drink that much, especially for a Macedonian, and was basically a social drinker. IN THE VERY NEXT LECTURE, Harl explains that it's not Alex's fault that he murdered Cleitus because he was INCREDIBLY DRUNK. Then later, re: Alexander's death, Harl dismisses poison and names "heavy drinking" as a factor.
sardonic_writer's review
4.0
One of the better Great Courses series, despite Harl's insane pronunciation of "allies" as "al-LIES." He gives a thorough overview of both Philip II's and Alexander's conquests. The course does cover the Wars of the Diadochi, but in such a rushed manner that I found it difficult to follow. Considering how much time is given to the 11 years of Alexander's conquests, you'd think they'd take more care covering the following 40+.
lennardiosif's review
4.0
Great but misses a bit of detail I think at times. Companion PDF is excellent.
More...