This highly intelligent book has an underlying thesis - that the cult of the hero (especially military heroes) is essentially false and even de structive, and that there is no place for it in today's nuclear world. It is built around four key figures: Alexander the Great, Wellington, Ulysses S. Grant and Hitler. The portrait of Alexander attempts to strip away the myth and shows him as essentially a semi-barbarian conqueror - a view which has something to commend it, but ignores the great Macedonian's universalism, his deep Hellenic culture, and his role as a bridge-builder between West and East. Wellington, by contrast, is rather flatteringly portrayed but the picture of Grant is the best thing in the book. As for Hitler, can anything more be said about him at this stage which is particularly relevant?.