Book review - "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great"

Alexander the Great seems to have this great reputation - a hundred years ago or so it was mainly because he was a white guy who conquered a lot of Asians, Arabs and Indians and because he was a military genius and edcuated and died young. He still seems to have street cred today because he was probably bisexual and he died young. But reading this book it seems he was a sulky bloodthirsty tyrant who was responsible for the death of millions just because he wanted it. He felt like taking over the world so fought battle after battle... and for what. The author makes some claim how he changed the course of history and promoted cross cultural fertilisation. You could make the same argument for Stalin. There are other ways to promote intercultural exchange apart from invasion. A horrible person who when he didn't get his own way would go and massacre someone then go on a drinking binge. So he was respectful of a few local gods, so he had a philosopher teaching him, so what? He didn't make the world a better place he made it worse. He was a dictator and he can get stuffed. That's why films about his life will always flop. This book follows Alexander's destructive path; it was enjoyable although I was always wishing I could watch the tv show to see the places - written descriptions weren't as evocative.