• By the Spear

  • Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire
  • By: Ian Worthington
  • Narrated by: Phil Holland
  • Length: 11 hrs and 14 mins
  • 4.3 out of 5 stars (140 ratings)

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By the Spear  By  cover art

By the Spear

By: Ian Worthington
Narrated by: Phil Holland
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Publisher's summary

Alexander the Great, arguably the most exciting figure from antiquity, waged war as a Homeric hero and lived as one, conquering native peoples and territories on a superhuman scale. From the time he invaded Asia in 334 to his death in 323, he expanded the Macedonian empire from Greece in the west to Asia Minor, the Levant, Egypt, Central Asia and "India" (Pakistan and Kashmir) in the east. Although many other kings and generals forged empires, Alexander produced one that was without parallel, even if it was short-lived. And yet, Alexander could not have achieved what he did without the accomplishments of his father, Philip II (r. 359-336). It was Philip who truly changed the course of Macedonian history, transforming a weak, disunited, and economically backward kingdom into a military powerhouse. A warrior king par excellence, Philip left Alexander with the greatest army in the Greek world, a centralized monarchy, economic prosperity, and a plan to invade Asia. For the first time, By the Spear offers an exhilarating military narrative of the reigns of these two larger-than-life figures in one volume. Ian Worthington gives full breadth to the careers of father and son, showing how Philip was the architect of the Macedonian empire, which reached its zenith under Alexander, only to disintegrate upon his death. By the Spear also explores the impact of Greek culture in the East, as Macedonian armies became avatars of social and cultural change in lands far removed from the traditional sphere of Greek influence. In addition, the book discusses the problems Alexander faced in dealing with a diverse subject population and the strategies he took to what might be called nation building, all of which shed light on contemporary events in culturally dissimilar regions of the world. The result is a gripping and unparalleled account of the role these kings played in creating a vast empire and the enduring legacy they left behind.

©2014, Oxford University Press (P)2014 Audible Inc.
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History

What listeners say about By the Spear

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  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Bueller..... Bueller...... Bueller...... Monotone

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

speaker varying tone

What did you like best about this story?

Historical value

What didn’t you like about Phil Holland’s performance?

No tone change, or fluxuation

What reaction did this book spark in you? Anger, sadness, disappointment?

disappointment

Any additional comments?

Please provide input for the narrator while reading

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5 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good story. Obnoxious narration.

This was an interesting book, With fair assessment of material. The narrator was pretty bad tho.

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3 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    2 out of 5 stars

This only contains Alexander IV (the Great).

While the information and expression of the book is enjoyable, the title is misleading. It does not include the fall of the Macedonian Empire, but merely the life of Alexander. I bought this in hopes of learning some details about the fall of the Macedonian Empire and exchanges in leadership leading up to the splitting of the Macedonian Empire by Rome. Very disappointed to have purchased the book and now do not have any new info on my intended study.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Pitting one against the other?

While I love much of the information here, I don't like how it keeps being presented--and I'm not even finished.

One, trying to compare Philip and Alexander, even if the author leaves it up to the reader (or listener) is just silly. Would there be the latter without the former? Uhh...Some of the assertions about the two had me saying "duh!!", though maybe this is meant for someone who hasn't read all the source material available on Alexander.

I bought this primarily for information on Philip, and wasn't disappointed in the least. The military aspect of it was great, but when comparing him and his son, things get a little rocky. Why do it? They were clearly both great men in their own rights, and everyone (despite what the author thinks, apparently) knows it. It's unnecessary, because the other information presented in this book, and all together, is awesome! Philip and Alexander carved Macedon into history together, not one or the other more.


Two, the narration is positively. mind. numbing. Eleven hours of Arrian wasn't this bland. The only thing keeping me engaged was the fact that I wanted to know this stuff. Otherwise? My god. If you need to put your kid to sleep or something, this is the book for you.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good Book; Terrible Narration

Is there anything you would change about this book?

I think some more detail of specific battles would have made for a more engaging book. It feels a bit short (actually it feels long, but I believe that is because of a lack of detail). The book means to focus more on the personalities of Philip and Alexander than the battles. I picked this up because I could never keep my world history straight in high school and recently discovered my interest in military history. This book covers more than just the military aspect of the Macedonians, but I believe it might be at the cost of any really rich gritty detail.

How could the performance have been better?

The narration is absolutely terrible. The narrator never changes tempo or inflection. The text was clearly written with the intent to instill feeling in the reader, but Mr. Holland successfully glosses over every paragraph with an unwavering drab tone. It almost sounds as if he is bored of reading the book from the beginning, and he consistently misses language cues from the author. If you've had this experience; is not dissimilar to using an old 90's version of Microsoft Word or Microsoft Works to read your text back to you after you've typed it in. There is no feeling emoted in a sentence, it's almost as if he is just focusing on pronouncing each word and pausing at periods and commas.

This type of recitation may be appropriate for many historical texts in which the author is trying to avoid showing bias or opinion, but in this book Worthington clearly intends to create some suspense or drama at times. I'm no historian so perhaps there are pressures in the field that demand this sort of reading; but it seems to me that the audio does not match how the author intended the book to be read.

Any additional comments?

I am no historian, so if you are thinking of listening to this as a person who studies world history as a profession, you may find my opinion exactly the opposite of yours.

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2 people found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

worth the read but...

the reader is way too robotic displayed absolutely no emotion of any kind. but still worth the listen.

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    2 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

Good detail, poor narration

I liked the story because of the detail. The narrator's nearly monotone, sing-song style was annoying

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1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    3 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    3 out of 5 stars

Informative but flat narration

I thought this was read by some kind of voice synthesizer because it's so darn flat. The information is very dense and being unable to locate a good map of the ancient world, I was unable to make use of the material.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful collection of historical conquest.

finished the book in a few days. it was great. the narration becomes appreciated. and the historical anecdotes are both enlightening and comedic at times.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great Book

The accomplishments of Both Philip and Alexander are covered outstandingly in this book. It is certainly a good book for those who are well versed with the Greatness of Alexander but not of his Father. I recently read "Alexander of Macedon" by Peter Green which covers pretty much the same topics as this book. I believe Green does a better job but for anybody looking to take in a new Narrative "By The Spear" will not disappoint.

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