CHESTERTOWN — The Bookplate’s author lectures continue on Wednesday, March 19 when Rachel Kousser will discuss her new book, “Alexander at The End of The World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great,” at 6 p.m. at the Sultana Education Foundation’s Lawrence Wetlands Preserve.
“Kousser’s book is a riveting biography of Alexander the Great’s final years, when the leader’s insatiable desire to conquer the world set him off on an exhilarating, harrowing journey that would define his legacy,” a news release states.
By 330 B.C.E., Alexander the Great had reached the pinnacle of success.
Or so it seemed.
He had defeated the Persian ruler Darius III and seized the capital city of Persepolis. His exhausted and traumatized soldiers were ready to return home to Macedonia. Yet Alexander had other plans. He was determined to continue heading east to Afghanistan in search of his ultimate goal, to reach the end of the world.
Alexander’s unrelenting desire to press on resulted in a perilous seven-year journey through the unknown eastern borderlands of the Persian empire that would test the great conqueror’s physical and mental limits. He faced challenges from the natural world, moving through deadly monsoons and extreme temperatures; from a rotating cast of well-matched adversaries, who conspired against him at every turn; and even from his own men, who questioned his motives and distrusted the very beliefs on which Alexander built his empire.
This incredible sweep of time, culminating with his death in 323 B.C. at the age of 32, would come to determine Alexander’s legacy and shape the empire he left behind.
Kousser is the chair of the classics department at the Graduate Center, City University of New York and a professor of ancient art and archaeology at Brooklyn College.
Her talk is free and open to the public, but reservations are recommended.
For more information, call The Bookplate at 410-778-4167 or email contact@thebookplate.net.
The Lawrence Wetlands Preserve is a walk-in facility (no onsite parking) located at 301 S. Mill St., Chestertown. Visitors are encouraged to park in the public lots in the 300-block of Cannon Street or on the surrounding streets.