The Persian Boy - A Novel of Alexander the Great: A Virago Modern Classic

'One of the greatest historical novels ever written' SARAH WATERS 'Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers' HILARY MANTEL In THE PERSIAN BOY, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend. The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas is sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but finds freedom with Alexander the Great after the Macedon army conquers his homeland. Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander's mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone. 'Mary Renault does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us' HILARY MANTEL 'The Alexander Trilogy stands as one of the most important works of fiction in the 20th century . . . Renault's skill is in immersing us in their world, drawing us into its strangeness, its violence and beauty' ANTONIA SENIOR, THE TIMES