ing been overlooked by most historians for his role in
fighting the Second World War, he remains perhaps one
of the most revered military leaders in British history. As
historians Martin Windrow and Francis K. Mason have
written, “Unquestionably the greatest British field com-
mander of the Second World War, Alexander played the
leading role in almost every campaign in which British
troops were involved, displaying a unique tactical and
strategic aptitude in defeat as well as in victory.”
References: Nicolson, Nigel, Alex: The Life of Field Mar-
shal Earl Alexander of Tunis (London: Weidenfeld and
Nicholson, 1973); Jackson, William Godfrey Fothergill,
Alexander of Tunis as Military Commander (London: Bats-
ford, 1971); Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George
Alexander, earl Alexander of Tunis, The Alexander Mem-
oirs, 1940–1945, edited by John North (London: Cassell,
1962); Windrow, Martin, and Francis K. Mason, “Alex-
ander, Harold Rupert Leofric George, 1st Earl Alexander
of Tunis,” in The Wordsworth Dictionary of Military Bi-
ography (Hertfordshire, U.K.: Wordsworth Editions Ltd.,
1997), 8–11; Alexander, Harold Rupert Leofric George
Alexander, earl Alexander of Tunis, The Battle of Tunis
(Sheffield, U.K.: J. W. Northend, 1957).Alexander the Great (Alexander III) (356–323
b.c.) king of Macedon and military leader
The son of Philip II of Macedon and his wife Olympias,
an Epirote princess, Alexander III, known better as Alex-
ander the Great, was born at Pella in 356 b.c., possibly
in October. To discuss Alexander without mentioning
the impact of his father, Philip, is to ignore history, since
it bears strongly on why Alexander became, on his own,
a far greater warrior than his father. When Alexander was
just a child, his father was making Macedon (now Mace-
donia in northern Greece) into one of the greatest Greek
city-states, as well as the dominant power in the Balkans.Alexander the Great having Homer’s books buried under Darius’s tomb. Engraving by Marcantonio Raimondi, ca. 1480,
after a fresco in the Vatican by Raphael
AlexAnDeR the gReAt