Publisher's Synopsis
"Paul Doherty has a lively sense of history...evocative and lyrical descriptions" NEW STATESMAN Spring 334 BC and the young Alexander is poised with his troops at the Hellespont, waiting to launch an invasion into the empire of the Persian King, Darius III. Knowing he must win the approval of the gods, Alexander makes sacrifice after sacrifice, but the smoke does not rise - the sacrifices are tainted. Worse, the guides hired to lead him through Persian territory are being brutally murdered, Persian spies are active in the camp and Alexander's own generals harbour secret ambitions. Into this whirlpool of mistrust comes Telamon, a great friend from Alexander's boyhood. He sets about revealing the secret enemies within the camp while Alexander displays his true heroic stature, throwing off fears and panics and leading a bloody attack on the Persian King.
