Alexander The Great Read Free Books and Download eBooks
Born a prince of Macedonia in 356 BCE, Alexander the Great became one of the greatest military leaders of all time. He conquered the entire Persian Empire, defeating King Darius III four times. He invaded India, defeating a seven-foot-tall Indian king and extending the boundaries of his empire into most of Asia. Brutal in his drive for power, Alexander maintained supremacy by forcing his soldiers to marry the foreigners that they conquered. He amassed a huge fortune by plundering the riches of his enemies and married two foreign princesses, one of them King Darius III's daughter. By the time of his death at age thirty-two, Alexander had conquered most of the known ancient Greek world, a remarkable achievement in only twelve years.Demi's storytelling skills bring Alexander the Great's exploits to life. Her splendid illustrations were painted with Chinese inks and gold overlays and with frames inspired by jewels from the tomb of Philip II of Macedonia at Verghina. An Author's note describing Demi's research and source material is included.
Lexile Measure: 1020 (What's this?)
Hardcover: 64 pages
Publisher: Two Lions; First Edition edition (September 1, 2010)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 0761457003
ISBN-13: 978-0761457008
Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 0.5 x 10.2 inches
Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (56 customer reviews)
Best Sellers Rank: #265,966 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #169 in Books > Children's Books > Education & Reference > History > Military & Wars #482 in Books > Children's Books > Biographies > Historical
Age Range: 9 - 12 years
Grade Level: 4th - 7th
Demi has a history of writing and illustrating beautiful books for children. Alexander the Great continues this tradition with stunning and stylized illustrations as well as dense and engaging text. My preschool-aged children are a bit young to really enjoy the book, but I am looking forward to sharing more classical history with them when they are older.This book is definitely more appropriate for upper elementary students. My wife is an elementary school teacher, and she appreciates being able to find illustrated books more suited to 4th, 5th, and 6th grade. The information-rich text could make a read aloud somewhat challenging, but it would make great resource as part of an instructional unit.Overall, I am really pleased with this book. It is physically beautiful, and the history is well-written. The gold-toned illustrations are stunning. This would make a great addition to a school library or a home library.
For those many readers and collectors of the books Demi, this extraordinarily well illustrated book ALEXANDER THE GREAT will not disappoint. In many ways it is one of her finest as far as the intricate illustrations of the great Macedonian heroâs life. What Demi provides in this book is not only a well considered history of one of the greatest soldiers of the world, but also she designs every page with intricate illustrations incorporating gold ink - creating the semblance of illuminated manuscripts. The art is magnificent. The book is magnificent!Amazingly enough Demi covers most of the significant battles that made Alexander the Great the ruler of all of Asia. She depicts the life of the great conqueror from his birth in 356 BCE to his death in 323 BCE with her signature detailed style and depicts a segment from Alexander's life on every page. Using mixed media, she includes an abundance of red and gold inks to emphasize her subject's royal heritage. Framed scenes include Alexander as an infant with his parents, Queen Oympias and King Philip II; his tutoring by Aristotle; and his many battles across Persia, Asia Minor, and beyond. The text focuses on the facts and general time line of Alexander's life.Demi as artist and historian has accomplished what few other have been able to do - to give a succinct history of the famous Alexander the Great enhanced with the magnificent early Asian illustrations of this important historical figure. This book is a fitting tribute to a legend - another great achievement by this champion of illustrated childrenâs history books. Grady Harp, December 13
This is the second Demi book I've gotten through Vine--I've also read and reviewed her Marco Polo biography. ALEXANDER THE GREAT is much in the same vein--a beautifully-illustrated biography of an important figure in Western history. The history is, to the best of my knowledge, accurate, summing up Alexander's chief accomplishments and major life events. His meeting with Diogenes is rendered well, showing that the author was able to include events that weren't important geo-politically, but say something about Alexander's life.The illustrations are the high point of this book. They somehow manage to convey the violence and bloodshed of the battles that made Alexander great without being gory, if that makes any sense. There are also clever strands carried from page to page; for example, Demi mentions the young Alexander being taught the fight lions. A few pages later, Aristotle, scroll in hand, is tutoring Alexander, who is sitting on a chair placed over a lion skin. After that, we see him riding Bucephalus into battle with a leopard skin draped over the horse. There are scores of easter eggs, such as an eagle wheeling in the sky as Alexander prepares to cut the Gordian Knot. So while the book is geared towards a young audience, there is plenty here to have adults reviewing their history.This book is highly recommended. My headline, incidentally, comes from the Iron Maiden song "Alexander the Great," which is also a pretty good condensation of Alexander's biography.
Although perhaps aimed at middle grades, this book serves remarkably well for all ages, from early childhood with the engaging and precise illustrations through adult and the more mature reader with its clear, precise and comprehensive prose. I discovered more of this Alexandrian period than any previously read material, and it serves, while concise and comprehensive, to whet the appetite for further study. A broad field well contained.
In what has become a pattern, author and illustrator Demi does something I once actually believed impossible: write and illustrate a picture book biography from which the reader, whether adult or child, can actually learn about the subject. Based entirely on her own reading and research Demi has produced a gorgeously illustrated (of course!), but also informative and (no longer to my utter amazement) very useful biography of arguably the greatest general the world has ever known.Among other things Demi demonstrated that you can leave in the grim parts of history while still keeping it appropriate for children by simply mentioning them in passing without dwelling upon them or wallowing in it: "As was his custom, he restored order by executing anyone who dared to challenge him."Note: Mercifully, Demi does not insist on rubbing the noses of intended audience 9-to-12-year-old readers in Alexander's likely sexual orientation or excessive condemnation of his acts of conquest. After all they will get plenty of that if she has succeeded in inspiring them to further reading about a man who truly was Great,...if only in his impact on world history.
The book gets five stars, but the Kindle version only four stars, since the pictures can not be enlarged, and they are too hard to see. The text is also very small, but can be enlarged for easier reading. However, the book , like all that I have seen in this series, is wonderfully, with gorgeous pictures and a fascinating story of a heroic historical figure. I certainly would recommend the book....the Kindle version is just a teaser.
Madame Alexander 2010 Collector's Dolls Price Guide #35 (Madame Alexander Collector's Dolls Price Guide) Who Was Alexander the Great? Alexander the Great The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great Alexander the Great (Greece and Rome: Texts and Contexts) Ancient Greece: The Legacy of Aristotle (Mentor of Alexander the Great) Alexander the Great: Man and God Alexander the Great: the Hunt For a New Past Alexander: The Great Leader and Hero of Macedonia and Ancient Greece (European History, Ancient History, Ancient Rome, Ancient Greece, Egyptian History, Roman Empire, Roman History) Alexander the Great: Son of the Gods (Getty Trust Publications: J. Paul Getty Museum) Alexander the Great: Lessons from History's Undefeated General Alexander the Great: Son of the Gods Alexander the Great: Legacy of a Conqueror (Library of World Biography Series) The Genius of Alexander the Great You Wouldn't Want to Be in Alexander the Great's Army!: Miles You'd Rather Not March Gymnastics: Great Moments, Records, and Facts: Great Moments, Records, and Facts (Great Sports) Great Writing 1: Great Sentences for Great Paragraphs Alexander McQueen Alexander McQueen: Savage Beauty (Metropolitan Museum of Art) Alexander Girard: A Designer's Universe
