Book Review of The Rise and Fall of Alexandria How the modern world was actually established is often overlooked and attributed to the powers and domination of Athens and Rome. What authors Justin Pollard and Howard Reid urge readers to understand, however, is the significance that the city of Alexandria had on Western Civilization. Both authors have worked in British and American television, and are accomplished in the film/documentary industry. Reid has also previously written five other books. In their narrative book, The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, they seek to emphasize just how important this little city was to the foundation of the modern world through accounts of history.
Alexandria was built on the foundation of knowledge and intellect, with some of the greatest minds in the fields of Philosophy and Astronomy behind the operation. Alexandria was the birthplace of some of history’s most influential people and the ideas that accompanied them. The ideas of these influential people, such as Herophilus and his discovery of the human organs, and Aristarchus with his idea of a heliocentric universe, have been carried down for centuries and will never be forgotten. Alexandria was home to the incredible library and museum where some of the world’s greatest thinkers pondered and hypothesized the abstracts and ideas that were foreign to their time. Along with all of these historical facts about Alexandria, the city also houses one of the Seven Wonders of the World—the magnificent lighthouse, the Pharos. Alexandria, one of the most influential cities in the foundation of the modern world and a city whose “unique soul” (p. 1) has been overlooked by history. But, through The Rise and Fall of Alexandria, readers are able to experience the climb to knowledge and intellect, as well as the rise and fall of this “most extraordinary city on earth” (p. 176).
Alexander founded the city of Alexandria in 331 BC.