In The Footsteps Of Alexander The Great by Michael Wood (BBC Worldwide £12.99)

ATTILA the Hun and Ghengis Khan have never enjoyed a good Press, yet the man from Macedonia has somehow managed to earn good write-ups.

All a bit of a mystery, really. For when it came to the sword and the flame, this ruthless soldier of the ancient world was the first over the parapet, in the thick of the action, and leading his soldiers by fearless example.

But was he the greatest conqueror the world had ever seen, who created an empire stretching to the ends of the known Earth or was he a murderous tyrant who destroyed populations and laid waste to long-established cultures around the globe?

Michael Wood has embarked on an odyssey of discovery, following the ancient route of Alexander all the way from from Greece to India, to bring us new insights into a man whose myth and achievements still ring down the centuries.

Whether great empire builder or despot, driven by whatever motives, Alexander literally changed the face of history forever.

East and West were linked into a world civilisation and economy for the first time, paving the way for the interchange of peoples and ideas that still affect us today.

Wood has worked as a journalist, broadcaster and film-maker, and is author of several highly-acclaimed books.

This is another one to add to his list of successes.

John Phillpott