Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan - Softcover

Holt, Frank L.

3.93

309 ratings by Goodreads

9780520249936: Into the Land of Bones: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0520249933 ISBN 13: 9780520249936

Publisher: University of California Press, 2005

View all copies of this ISBN edition:

What George W. Bush called the "first war of the twenty-first century" actually began more than 2,300 years ago when Alexander the Great led his army into what is now a sprawling ruin in northern Afghanistan. Accounts of Alexander's invasion of ancient Bactria read eerily like news from our own day. In this vivid, meticulously researched, and elegantly narrated book, Frank L. Holt follows Alexander's historical, archaeological, and numismatic legacy back and forth between ancient Bactria and modern Afghanistan. Recounting the plight of the most powerful leader of the time as he led the most sophisticated army of its day into the treacherous world of tribal warlords, Holt describes those grueling campaigns and the impact they had on Alexander, his generals, their troops, and the world. Into the Land of Bones also examines the conflict from the point of view of the local warlords who pushed the invading Greeks to the limits of their endurance—and sometimes beyond, into mania and mutiny. The lively narrative situates the current war in Afghanistan in a broader historical perspective.

Holt explains how the three modern superpowers that have invaded Afghanistan—Britain in the nineteenth century, the Soviets in the twentieth, and the United States in the twenty-first—are continuing the struggle that Alexander began centuries ago. That this legacy continues to play itself out today is a testament to the timeliness of Holt's fascinating and original account.

"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.

From the Inside Flap:

"Into the Land of Bones is the fullest narrative of Alexander's campaigns in Afghanistan available in English. It is informed by a comprehensive knowledge of the ancient sources, geography, and archaeology of Afghanistan. The work uses the history of Alexander to raise provocative questions about current affairs. Its long-term value, however, lies in its detailed and masterly account of Alexander's Bactrian campaigns in light of the history and geography of Afghanistan. This is one of the most important works on Alexander to appear in the last ten years." Stanley Burstein, author of Outpost of Hellenism: The Emergence of Heraclea on the Black Sea

The terrain, climate, and volatile socio-political milieu of Afghanistan have always been a logistical nightmare for invaders. Holt's vivid evocation of Alexander the Great's grueling, brutal, inconclusive war, and the telling parallels he draws with British, Soviet, and U.S. attempts to bludgeon the region into submission, make for grim reading.” Amelie Kuhrt, author of The Ancient Near East, c.3000-330 BC

About the Author:

Frank L. Holt is Professor of History at the University of Houston. He is the author of Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (California, 2003), Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria (California, 1999), and Alexander the Great and Bactria: The Formation of a Greek Frontier in Central Asia (1988) and editor of The Greeks in Bactria and India (1985).

"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.