Kazan. Kazan University Publishing House. 1976. 520 pp. Circulation 5500. Price 1 rub. 80 kopecks. The life and conquests of Alexander the Great have been the object of research of new generations for 23 centuries: historiography about Alexander, which began, in fact, during the life of the commander, is represented in our era by a huge scientific literature. The attention of Soviet scholars was mainly focused on the disclosure of the prerequisites for the Greek-Macedonian conquests and the socio-economic problems of Hellenism. Only a few articles, a popular book by S. I. Kovalev1, and separate sections of generalizing works are devoted to Alexander's personality, conquests, and civic activities in the East. Thus, the monograph of the head of the Department of General History of Kazan University, Doctor of Historical Sciences A. S. Shofman, is the first in Russian science consolidated work on the Eastern policy of Alexander the Great. In the concept of "eastern policy", the author includes a set of Alexander's activities carried out during the conquest of the East, among them, first of all, the organization of the administration of the conquered territories. This policy was not an end in itself, but a means to achieve the main goal - world domination (p. 511). The book opens with an overview of sources. In ancient historiography about Alexander, the author distinguishes two directions: anti-Alexandrian (Curtius was his representative) and apologetic (Plutarch and Arrian). Turning to the historiography of the question, A. S. Shofman criticizes the idealistic views of bourgeois scientists, while emphasizing the fact that the idealization of Alexander's personality is widespread in the West. The author believes that the only exceptions to this prevailing exaltation of Alexander in bourgeois historiography are the views of two historians - B. G. Niebuhr and K. Y. Belokha (p. 19). Thus, K. Y. Belokh sharply opposed the fetishization of Alexander and belittled the role of ... Read more