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Holt Publishes Fourth Book on Alexander the Great
Frank Holt has published his fourth book, Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions (Berkeley, 2003), exploring the reign of Alexander the Great and its impact on the indigenous peoples of Central and South Asia. His first two books were cited by the American Historical Association as ranking among “the best contemporary historical scholarship” for the years 1961-1992, and in 2000 he won the international Aristotle Prize following the publication of Thundering Zeus: The Making of Hellenistic Bactria (Berkeley, 1999). His latest book has been hailed by one leading expert as “high scholarship at its most exciting.” Alexander the Great and the Mystery of the Elephant Medallions takes us inside one of the central debates of modern scholarship: How did Alexander perceive himself, and how did he relate that vision to his contemporaries? In a groundbreaking study, Holt examines an extraordinary series of silver medallions commissioned by Alexander and finds in these documents new answers to the mystery. These medallions illustrate Alexander’s attempt to convince his Macedonian troops that their victory in India depended upon his own divine powers, which included control over nature itself. The result is a fresh glimpse into a frightening theology of war expounded and exploited by the king at a turning point in world history.
The first chapter of Holt’s monograph can be read on-line by accessing it through the website of University of California Press: www.ucpress.edu. Holt’s next book (The Future Behind Us: Alexander the Great in Afghanistan) is under contract with UC Press for publication in 2004.
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