Q. Curtius Rufus (1st century CE) is one of the most important historians of Alexander the Great. However, existing editions in use today are philologically unsatisfactory for a number of reasons, and the aim of this work is to present a sounder text. This edition is the first to pay adequate attention to the second family of manuscripts, as well as placing the conjectures of the respective philologists in their correct context.

Although no other human being has attracted so much speculation, Alexander has remained an enigma. This history of his life provides by far the most plausible and haunting portrait of Alexander: a brilliantly realized image of a man ruined by constant good fortune in his youth.