The Persian Boy

''One of the greatest historical novels ever written'' SARAH WATERS ''I love to find queer representation in historical fiction. . . Renault''s eye for intimacy is amazing '' DOUGLAS STUART, author of Shuggie Bain * A spellbinding reimagining of the last years of Alexander the Great, told through the eyes of his lover - perfect for fans of The Song of Achilles Abducted and gelded as a boy, Bagoas is sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia, but finds freedom with Alexander the Great after the Macedon army conquers his homeland. Their relationship sustains Alexander as he weathers assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a sometimes mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. After Alexander''s mysterious death, we are left wondering if this Persian boy understood the great warrior and his ambitions better than anyone. ''Mary Renault does not pretend the past is like the present, or that the people of ancient Greece were just like us. She shows us their strangeness; discerning, sure-footed, challenging our values, piquing our curiosity, she leads us through an alien landscape that moves and delights us'' HILARY MANTEL '' The Alexander Trilogy stands as one of the most important works of fiction in the 20th century . . . Renault''s skill is in immersing us in their world, drawing us into its strangeness, its violence and beauty'' ANTONIA SENIOR, THE TIMES

Préface
In the second novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend.

Auteur

Tom Holland is an award-winning historian, author and broadcaster. His bestselling books include Rubicon: The Triumph and the Tragedy of the Roman Republic, which won the Hessell-Tiltman Prize for History and was shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize; Persian Fire, which won the Anglo-Hellenic League's Runciman Award; Millennium: The End of the World and the Forging of Christendom; In the Shadow of the Sword: The Battle for Global Empire and the End of the Ancient World; Dynasty: The Rise and Fall of the House of Caesar; and Dominion: The Making of the Western Mind.

Holland has adapted Homer, Herodotus, Thucydides and Virgil for the BBC. His translation of Herodotus was published in 2013 by Penguin Classics and followed in 2016 by a history of Æthelstan published under the Penguin Monarchs series, and in 2019 Æthelflæd England's Forgotten Founder as a Ladybird Expert Book. In 2007, he was the winner of the Classical Association prize, awarded to 'the individual who has done most to promote the study of the language, literature and civilisation of Ancient Greece and Rome'.

Holland hosts (with Dominic Sandbrook) the no.1 podcast The Rest is History. He has written and presented a number of TV documentaries for the BBC and Channel 4, on subjects ranging from religion to dinosaurs. He served two years as the Chair of the Society of Authors; as Chair of the PLR Advisory Committee and was on the committee of the Classical Association.

@holland_tom

Texte du rabat

'Mary Renault is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers' HILARY MANTEL

'Nowhere else in fiction have Alexander's beauty and charisma blazed with such potency' TOM HOLLAND

'Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent' MADELINE MILLER

'All my sense of the ancient world - its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions - comes from Mary Renault' EMMA DONAGHUE

'Passionate and captivating' SEAN HEWITT

Résumé
A stunning new hardback edition of Mary Renault's masterpiece: a groundbreaking queer classic and 'one of the greatest historical novels ever written' (Sarah Waters). Perfect for fans of Madeline Miller, Natalie Haynes and Pat Barker.