Harry Sidebottom

Alexander of Macedon was just twenty years old in 334BC when he set out with a small army to challenge Persia, the largest and most powerful empire in the world. The Macedonians marched East into the unknown, won battles against overwhelming odds, stormed impregnable fortresses. In the deserts and mountains between the Aegean and India they conquered nature itself. Yet disaster was never more than a sword stroke away. Alexander`s companions were riven with murderous rivalries, their loyalty contingent. The threat of treason, inspired by ambition and Persian gold, or by honour and principle, was ever present.

Alexander: The Shadow King tells this epic story from a new and unique angle through the eyes of another Alexander, a prince of the Macedonian royal house of Lyncestis. The Lyncestian was Alexander the Great`s general and friend. But he was torn between that friendship and the duty to avenge his murdered brothers, and between adherence to the ways of his ancestors and the new world of empire. The Lyncestian was never safe. Others - Persians and Greeks, as well as Macedonians - saw him as a rival for the throne. For six years of conspiracy and battle, as the Macedonian army fought its way East, his life hung by a thread.

Alexander of Lyncestis was The Shadow King.

Harry Sidebottom teaches Ancient History at Oxford University. His career as a novelist began with his Warrior of Rome series, which has sold over half a million copies. His next series, Throne of Caesars, was equally acclaimed.