Between becoming king of Macedonia in 336 BC and his death in 323, Alexander the Great conquered not only the Greek city states but also Persia and as far east as the Punjab in India, as far south as Egypt. Claude Mossé describes the progress of Alexander's career in the first part of her book, while the second examines the effects of his conquests on the history of the ancient, medieval and modern world.

Central to the book is the myth of Alexander and how the image of Alexander was created and evolved over the centuries. From the illustrious son of Zeus down to the absolute monarch idealised by Louis XIV, from the valiant knight of the crusaders to the Moslem philosopher-king, the author reveals the gamut of contrasts that make up the legend of this extraordinary hero of history and myth..