Child of a Dream

The first novel in Manfredi's outstanding trilogy of brutal passion and grand adventure in ancient Greece.

Alexander: Child of a Dream is Valerio Massimo Manfredi's magnificent story of one of history's greatest characters and his quest to conquer the civilized world.

Who could have been born to conquer the world other than a god?

Mesmeric beauty, consuming desires, an insatiable hunger. Then premature death. This is the story of a boy, born to a great king – Philip of Macedon – and his sensuous queen, Olympias. It tells of the stern discipline of Philip and the wild passions of Olympias, and how, together, they formed Alexander, a young man of immense, unfathomable potential, capable of subjugating the known world to his power, and thought of by his contemporaries as a god.

Alexander's swift ascent to manhood, as a protégé of Aristotle and close friend of Ptolemy and Hephiaeston, and the start of his great adventure to conquer the civilized world is recounted in this awe-inspiring novel.

This is a wonderful evocation of the far-off and fascinating civilization of ancient Greece, revealed in vibrant tones and scholarly detail.