This is really more a biographical essay about the great Macedonian leader who conquered much of the known world than a full-blown life history. Mr. Cantor leans heavily on Peter Green's definitive Alexander of Macedon 356-323 B.C.: A Historical Biography for details and even for relating many of the incidents in Alexander's life. In condensing the story so much we are left with an endless reel of battles, booze and buggery. Such analysis of Alexander's personality as we are offered portrays an unfortunately Oedipal figure. And we are left wondering whether all the conquests really made much cultural impact. If anything, it seems it was Rome's adoption of Greek culture that did the most to extend its influence.

It's a perfectly functional sketch and likely contains as much as any of us casual readers need to know, but if you've a bit more time and interest try the Green bio instead.

(Reviewed:27-Dec-20)

Grade: (B-) Orrin C. Judd

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Norman Cantor Links:

    -WIKIPEDIA: Norman Cantor
    -AUTHOR PAGE: Norman F. Cantor (Harper Collins)
    -BOOK SITE: Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth by Norman F. Cantor
    -ENTRY: Cantor, Norman F. 1929–2004 (Encyclopedia.com)
    -ENTRY: CANTOR, NORMAN FRANK (1929–2004) (Jewish Virtual Library)
    -OBIT: Norman F. Cantor, 74, a Noted Medievalist, Is Dead (Wolfgang Saxon, Sep. 21st, 2004, NY Times)
    -OBIT: Norman F. Cantor *57 (Princeton Alumni Weekly)
    -OBIT: Norman F. Cantor, 74; Middle Ages Professor, Scholar and Author (LA Times, Sep. 24th, 2004)
    -OBIT: Norman Cantor, Rip (JOHN J. MILLER, September 26, 2004, National Review)
    -ESSAY: When Emperors Are No More: Why did an intelligent Jewish scholar write an appreciation of a German tyrant? (Michael Lipkin, June 15, 2016, The Paris Review)
    -VIDEO: In the Wake of the Plague: Professor Norman Cantor talked about his book, In the Wake of The Plague: The Black Death and The World It Made (politics & Prose, JUNE 28, 2001)
    -VIDEO INTERVIEW: In the wake of the plague: The Black Death and the world it made (THINK TANK WITH BEN WATTENBERG, July 26, 2001, American Enterprise Institute)
    -VIDEO LECTURE: "The Medieval Jew" (Norman Cantor, Jan 14, 2015 IISHJvid)
    -VIDEO ARCHIVES: Norman Cantor (You Tube)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing Norman Cantor (Kathleen Verduin, Perspecuitas)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing Paul Cantor (Peter Monaghan, Chronicle of Higher Education)
    -REVIEW: of Alexander the Great: Journey to the End of the Earth by Norman F. Cantor (Kirkus)
    -REVIEW: of Alexander (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Church, Kingship, and Lay Investiture in England, 1089–1135. By Norman F. Cantor (Paul L. Ward, The American Historical Review)
    -REVIEW: of In the Wake of the Plague: The Black Death and the World It Made by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Antiquity: The Civilization of the Ancient World by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Antiquity (Luke Sherwood, Basso Profundo)
    -REVIEW: of Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor (Glenn W. Olsen, The Catholic Historical Review)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing the Middle Ages: The Lives, Works, and Ideas of the Great Medievalists of the Twentieth Century by Norman F. Cantor (Robert Bartlett, NY Review of Books)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing the Middle Ages (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing the Middle Ages (Richard W. Pfaff, Speculum)
    -REVIEW: of Inventing the Middle Ages (Hugh Barnacle, The Independent)
    -REVIEW: of The Sacred Chain: The History of the Jews by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of Sacred Chain (Hillel Halkin, Commentary)
    -REVIEW: of THE LAST KNIGHT: The Twilight of the Middle Ages and the Birth of the Modern Era by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of The Last Knight (Thoughts and Places)
    -REVIEW: of Last Knight (MALINDA NASH, Houston Chronicle)
    -REVIEW: of Last Knight (Owlcation)
    -REVIEW: of Medieval Lives: Eight Charismatic Men and Women of the Middle Ages by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of The American Century: Varieties of Culture in Modern Times by Norman F. Cantor (Publishers Weekly)
    -REVIEW: of The American Century (Christopher Berkeley, H-PCAACA)

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