A review by checkers09
Dividing the Spoils: The War for Alexander the Great's Empire by Robin Waterfield

3.5

the war of Alexander's successors has been a topic which has interested me for many years, with so much innovation treachery and massive battles I was surprised they was so little written about it. however after reading this book I understand why, researching the many shifting alliances and wars over most of the known world for over 60 years would be enough to make any writer go mad, Waterfield does a good job at creating a cohesive picture of a period with little surviving written record. he established each of the key players there rise their fall and sometimes their rise again without losing focus on the overall historical context. it was refreshing that he would talk about a subject every now and then unrelated to the characters or warfare which was never-ending and instead focus on cultural changes or economic affects of the new regimes in Asia. my drawbacks were the somewhat Formulaic writing style which although being historically accurate lacked character. despite having a decent knowledge of this time period I found myself often at a lose as he mentioned countless generals and geographic areas without any introduction to their significance. this isn't really his fault as in just 200 pages and with little historical records it would have impossible to do this every single time. he does provide a few maps and a character list but realistically I wasn't going to go back to this every time saw a place or a person I couldn't remember. the topic itself was a fun read up until about 301BC with lots of interesting character like Perdiccas the regent for Alexander VI who tried to secure complete power for himself by outmanoeuvring his enemies . there was also Antigones the one eyed who nearly completely took over Asia and his flamboyant son Demetrius the besieger who was famous for building massive siege weapons. my favourite was Eumenes, Alexanders secretary who was able to hold out in the east with little resources and constant internal struggles, he even defeated Antigones three times before being betrayed by the silver shields. it fizzled out towards the end as the key players consolidated what they had and the information of events became less apparent. overall it was a good read especially in the first half which will tell you all you need to know about the successors. 3.5/5