{"product_id":"9781412225519","title":"Bullheaded Black Remembers Alexander: The Story of Alexander the Great's Invasion of the Middle East","description":"\u003cp\u003e Before there was \u003cb\u003eIslam\u003c\/b\u003e, there was Alexander. Before there was \u003cb\u003eChristianity\u003c\/b\u003e, there was Alexander. This is the story of \u003cb\u003eAlexander the Great's invasion of the Middle East\u003c\/b\u003e and of his astonishing effort to unite the civilized world under a central government designed to promote peace and international trade. This is the story of one man's courageous determination to advance \u003cb\u003efreedom of religion\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eracial equality\u003c\/b\u003e in Egypt, Mesopotamia \u003cb\u003e[Iraq today]\u003c\/b\u003e, Asia Minor \u003cb\u003e[Turkey]\u003c\/b\u003e, Persia \u003cb\u003e[Iran]\u003c\/b\u003e, and Bactria \u003cb\u003e[Afghanistan]\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e Why let Bucehpalus, or Oxhead (the horse Alexander rode during the ten years of the conquest) tell this story? Because by using the famous stallion (or Bullheaded Black, as I call him) as the narrator, it allows me to cut the story to the bone, to cover the main facts of Alexander's life, but also to inject a little common sense, or horse sense, if you will, about the major influences upon Alexander's ideas and motivations: the obvious influence, for example, of his father and mother, and the less obvious influence of \u003cb\u003eAristotle\u003c\/b\u003e, who was his personal tutor for three or four years when Alexander was a teenager. \u003c\/p\u003e  \u003cp\u003e This is a basic story: basic biography, basic world history, and basic geography. This is also the story of Alexander's idea for a better world. His dream perished with him in Babylon, when he unexpectedly died in \u003cb\u003e323BC\u003c\/b\u003e at the tender age of 33. In fact, a comprehensive dream like his, incorporating religious freedom and racial equality, did not flower profusely again until \u003cb\u003e1776\u003c\/b\u003e in America, and did not shoot promising tendrils forward again in \u003cb\u003eIraq\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003eAfghanistan\u003c\/b\u003e until the United States of America's preemptive strikes in the \u003cb\u003e21st Century\u003c\/b\u003e. What would Alexander say to us today about disputes over religion and the various gods of the world's great faiths? \u003cu\u003eRead this book! You will be surprised! \u003c\/u\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e   \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Trafford Publishing","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47133570892016,"sku":"9781412225519","price":7.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9781412225519_p0.jpg?v=1763724760","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9781412225519","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}