I am launching out into ancients for the first time with the acquisition of an army from the above period and would like some background reading, Alexander the Great was my special period for Ancient History [as a subsidiary subject to Eng Lang and Lit] at St Andrews but that was in 1968-9 so I need to get up to speed. I have Peter Green's life of Alexander and that's my lot. Any suggestions, especially on the military side of things, would be most gratefully received.

Many many years ago, when I was a little lad, I went to be a sailor. I travelled down to Pompey to meet the Navy chaps, and they asked me all sorts of questions. One was about my interests.

"Military history," I replied.
"Indeed." Their lordships mused. "What periods?"
"Oh! Lots." I enthused. "Greek, Macedonian, WWII, Napoleonics, ..."
"Ah!" They said, holding up a hand to cease my burble. "What was the last book you read about the Macedonians?"
"Alexander the Great's Campaigns in Miniature, by Phil Barker." I answered gravely.

This pleased their gentlemen in the blue jackets, but in the end they hung me over a tank of cold, stagnant water at 7:00am, and I decided my career lay on a different path.

Duncan Head is a cost-effective start. Plutarch. Arrian. I hope we'll be seeing pictures soon. My Successors are nearing battle-readiness too.

A few suggestions for the military side of Alexander's story.

"Alexander the Great at War: His Army - His Battles - His Enemies" by Ruth Sheppard

"Alexander the Great" by Robin Lane Fox

"Alexander the Great: His Armies and Campaigns, 334-323 BC" (Osprey Men-At-Arms) by Nick Sekunda and John Warry

As FK says "The Campaigns of Alexander" by Lucius Flavius Arrianus Xenophon (aka Arrian) is pretty much a must read. I still have the Penguin Classics version I got while at university and re-read bits from time to time, nearly forty years on.

Many thanks for the suggestions which look extremely useful. Arrian was one of our set books back in 68  and it is probably in a box somewhere in the house. The Peter Jones study, at least on the evidence of the first chapter, is fascinating and I'll pick up the others off Abebooks etc. Once more, many thanks.

Green, not Jones. Sorry.

Davy Green's locker....mmm, no, won't do, will it?

Quote from: FierceKitty on 03 April 2014, 08:07:52 AM
Davy Green's locker....mmm, no, won't do, will it?

It certainly won't. There is another classicist whose name is Peter Jones, frequently found writing in The Spectator and elsewhere, and my 'brain' has obviously confused the two. It does a lot of this these days.

No, no, no.....
Peter Jones was the voice of the book in the Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy....
Peter Green was the founder of Fleetwood Mac.
I'll get my coat.
Cheers - Phil.

Quote from: Techno on 03 April 2014, 10:02:00 AM
No, no, no.....
Peter Jones was the voice of the book in the Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy....
Peter Green was the founder of Fleetwood Mac.
I'll get my coat.
Cheers - Phil.

Sorry ! 
Couldn't resist.
Cheers - Phil

Thanks to Abebooks, just over £10 [postage included] got me the books by Arrian, Ruth Sheppard and Robin Lane Fox. Result.

Quote from: Techno on 03 April 2014, 10:02:00 AM
No, no, no.....
Peter Jones was the voice of the book in the Hitchhikers' Guide To The Galaxy....
Peter Green was the founder of Fleetwood Mac.
I'll get my coat.
Cheers - Phil.

So why wasn't the group called Green Mac? Was that any worse than an obscure Lancashire sea-side town?

Another useful book is the recent Osprey on the Macedonian army after Alexander.

Quote from: Dour Puritan on 05 April 2014, 11:31:40 PM
Another useful book is the recent Osprey on the Macedonian army after Alexander.

Thanks for this. I'll add it to the to-buy list .