In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great explained
Genre: | Documentary |
Director: | David Wallace |
Presenter: | Michael Wood |
Composer: | John Eacott |
Country: | United Kingdom |
Language: | English |
Num Series: | 1 |
Num Episodes: | 4 |
Executive Producer: | Leo Eaton (PBS) Laurence Rees (BBC) |
Producer: | Rebecca Dobbs |
Cinematography: | Peter Harvey Linette Frewin Alistair Cameron Peter Jeuvenal |
Runtime: | 57-60 minutes |
Company: | Maya Vision International |
Channel: | BBC2 |
In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great is a BBC documentary television series, first shown in 1998. Written and presented by historian and broadcaster Michael Wood,[1] it retraced the travels of Alexander the Great, from Macedonia to the borders of India and back to Mesopotamia.[2] [3]
Production
Wood was prevented by the government of Greece from interviewing Eugene N. Borza, a professor specializing in the history of Macedonia, anywhere within Greece, apparently because of Borza's controversial[4] views on the ethnic differences between the Greeks and Macedonians in ancient times.[5]
Episodes
Episode one: Son of God
Macedonia to Turkey
First broadcast on BBC2 on 14 July 1998[6]
Episode two: Lord of Asia
Zagros to Persepolis
First broadcast on BBC2 on 21 July 1998[7]
Episode three: Across the Hindu Kush
The golden road to Samarkand
First broadcast on BBC2 on 28 July 1998[8] [9]
Episode four: To The Ends of the Earth
Pakistan to Babylon
First broadcast on BBC2 on 4 August 1998
Broadcast and release
The series was broadcast in the United States on PBS on 4 and 5 May 1998.[10]
The series was released on DVD by BBC Worldwide,[11] and on DVD by PBS Home Video in 2004.[12]
Reception
In an article published in Summer 1998, Eugene N. Borza expressed approval of the series but was unhappy with the accompanying book.[13]
Book
The book In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great: A Journey from Greece to Asia, by Michael Wood, is a companion to the television series. It was published, by the University of California Press in Berkeley and Los Angeles, by Routledge in New York, in 1997.[14]
The book was ranked fifth in the original non-fiction section of the Bookwatch bestsellers list published in The Independent on 14 August 1998, and was included in the lists published on 28 August and 18 September 1998.[15]
See also
References
- K R Moore (ed). Brill's Companion to the Reception of Alexander the Great. (Brill's Companions to Classical Reception, vol 14). Brill. Leiden and Boston. 2018. pp 707 & 708
- John Leonard, "Smart Alex", New York Magazine, 4 May 1998
- Don Heckman, "PBS Deftly Traces Epic Life of Alexander the Great", Los Angeles Times, 4 May 1998
- Tom Huntington, "Multi-Media Review: In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great", HistoryNet, 19 August 2000
- "In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great", Weekend Edition Sunday, NPR, 3 May 1998
Notes and References
- http://topdocumentaryfilms.com/in-the-footsteps-of-alexander-the-great/ Top Documentaries: In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great. Accessed 17 February 2013
- http://www.ucpress.edu/book.php?isbn=9780520231924 Michael Wood: In the Footsteps of Alexander The Great - A Journey from Greece to Asia
- https://www.amazon.com/Footsteps-Alexander-Great-Michael-Wood/dp/B0002V7OGA Amazon. Accessed 18 February 2013
- Book: Roisman. Joseph. A Companion to Ancient Macedonia. Worthington. Ian. 2011-07-07. John Wiley & Sons. 978-1-4443-5163-7. 586. en.
- Book: Joseph Roisman. Brill's Companion to Alexander the Great. 16 December 2002. BRILL. 978-90-04-21755-3. 359.
- For reviews of this episode, see Peter Waymark, "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" in "Television Choice: Of tears and somersaults", The Times, 14 July 1998, p 46; and Peter Barnard, "Some talk of Alexander, some of Cecil Gee", The Times, 15 July 1998, p 47.
- The Times, 21 July 1998, p 43. The Independent, 21 July 1998, "The Tuesday Review" section, 21 July 1998, p 20
- For a review of this episode, see Nancy Banks-Smith, "Well, that's poetry that is", The Guardian Weekly, Volume 159, Number 6, 9 August 1998, p 26.
- The Times, 28 July 1998, p 47
- Walter Goodman, "Traveling Many Miles to Ask What Made Alexander Great", The New York Times, 4 May 1998, Section E, p 8
- For a review of the DVD, see Casey Burchby, "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great", DVD Talk, 25 May 2010
- Skelton and Dell. Empire of Alexander the Great. Revised Edition. Chelsea House. 2009. p 143
- (1998) 75 The Classical Outlook 139 (No 4, Summer 1998) (American Classical League, New York University)
- For reviews of this book see, Janet Grossman, "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great", Bryn Mawr Classical Review, 4 May 1998; Andrea Berlin, "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great" in "Reviews" (1999) 62 Near Eastern Archaeology 58 (No 1); P Green, "Book Reviews" (1999) Current Contents 132; E N Borza, "Book Reviews" (1999) Current Contents 60; (1999) JACT Review 24; and "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great", Publishers Weekly; "In the Footsteps of Alexander the Great", Kirkus. For other commentary on this book, see Rupert Matthews, Alexander the Great at the Battle of Granicus, Spellmount, 2008, p 249.
- https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/books-bestsellers-5394095.html "Books: Bestsellers"