The persian boy Alexander the Great through the eyes of his lover and servant

The beautiful young eunuch Bagoas becomes Alexander’s lover and we see the last seven years of the great general’s life through his lover’s eyes.'Renault's masterpiece. One of the greatest historical novels ever written' SARAH WATERSIn 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.The Persian Boy traces the last years of Alexander's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. 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 is a shining light to both historical novelists and their readers. She 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 . . . it represents the pinnacle of [Renault's] career . . . Renault's skill is in immersing us in their world, drawing us into its strangeness, its violence and beauty. It's a literary conjuring trick like all historical fiction - it can only ever be an approximation of the truth. But in Renault's hands, the trick is so convincing and passionately conjured. Nowhere is this more evident than in The Persian Boy . . . Bagoas is a brilliant narrator. Rendered unreliable by his passion, he is always believeable and sympathetic . . . His Persian background allows him to see the king and his Macedonians through the questioning eyes of an alien' - Antonia Senior, The Timeswithout introduction by Tim Holland (self-scan from paperback?) Historical novel set in the time of Alexander the Great. This novel tells the story of the climactic last seven years of Alexander the Great's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas, a eunoch who was sold to King Darius of Persia, but found freedom with the great general, sustaining Alexander through mutiny, assassination attempts and two wives. Tells the story of the climactic last seven years of Alexander the Great's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. The relationship between the beautiful young eunuch and the great general's sustains Alexander as he survives assassination plots, the demands of two foreign wives, a mutinous army, and his own ferocious temper. In this novel, Mary Renault traces the last years of Alexander's life through the eyes of his lover, Bagoas. Bagoas was gelded as a child and was sold as a courtesan to King Darius of Persia before Alexander's army conquered Persia. Initially he was taken on as an attendant to Alexander's household Lest anyone should suppose I am a son of nobody, sold off by some peasant father in a drought year, I may say our line is an old one, though it ends with me. Mary Renault. Originally Published: Harlow, U.k. : Longman, 1972. Alexander The Great Through The Eyes Of His Lover And Servant--p. [1] Of Cover.