Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (Hellenistic Culture and Society)
by Frank L. Holt
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Book Summary Information
Author: Frank L. HoltEdition: Hardcover
Audio: English (Original Language); English (Unknown); English (Published)
Published: 2003-11-24
ISBN: 0520238818
Number of pages: 217
Publisher: University of California Press
Book Reviews of Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (Hellenistic Culture and Society)
Book Review: A fascinating and extremely well-written book - read it!
Summary: 5 Stars
Frank Holt probably did not set out to promote himself as a polymath when he wrote "Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions". But that is the end result. He has created a fascinating detective story which sets out to solve the problem of the "Porus Medallion" (although he refrains from calling it by this name himself); and he weaves into it people and subjects as varied and diverse as: Sherlock Holmes, Charles Darwin, Heinrich Schliemann and 'Bokhara' Burnes; the First and Second Afghan Wars and the Great Game; Shakespeare and his Roman precedents; contemporary Indian nationalism; basic (and not so basic) numismatics; Twentieth Century forgery techniques; Medieval art history. and more!This might make "Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions" sound like a confusion of ideas, but Holt shows a real skill in drawing together all the strands of his argument to produce an enthralling (and therefore enjoyable) book. By the time I had read the first three chapters I felt educated, and it only got better after that. Chapter 5 includes an insightful review of Alexander historiography, which everyone should read before, during and after digesting any modern scholarship on the great Macedonian. By the time I reached the final chapter I was at a service station on the motorway, and I was so engrossed that I stayed longer than I intended, I was so keen to finish the book.
Holt is a good writer - even the rather mundane specifics of numismatics were fascinating, and his style is easy, comradely, and at times plain humorous. I had previously enjoyed "Alexander the Great and Bactria", and this new book is every bit as good. Do not look to learn anything new about Alexander, because the book is not really about him. But I heartily recommend it, not least because of what we can learn about historical research from it, and also because I do not believe anyone could come away from it without feeling one has learned a lot in the process of reading it.
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