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Fire from Heaven
A Novel of Alexander the Great: A Virago Modern Classic
Series: Virago Modern Classics
Brief Description
'The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS 'The Alexandriad is one of the twentieth century's most unexpectedly original works of art' GORE VIDAL In the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary...
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Format: Paperback / softback
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See moreIn the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend.
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Description
'The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS
'The Alexandriad is one of the twentieth century's most unexpectedly original works of art' GORE VIDAL
In the first novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend.
Alexander's beauty, strength, and defiance were apparent from birth, but his boyhood honed those gifts into the makings of a king. His mother and father, Olympias and King Philip of Macedon, fought each other for their son's loyalty, teaching Alexander politics and vengeance from the cradle. Hephaistion's love taught him trust, while Aristotle's tutoring provoked his mind and Homer's Iliad fuelled his aspirations. At age twelve, he killed his first man in battle; at sixteen, he became regent; at eighteen, commander of Macedon's cavalry; and by the time his father was murdered, Alexander's skills had grown to match his fiery ambition.
SHORTLISTED FOR THE 1970 LOST BOOKER PRIZE. INTRODUCED BY TOM HOLLAND. 'This is not just a novel: it's also the best imagining we are ever likely to have of a man who tore up history' EMILY WILSON, GUARDIAN 'The Alexander Trilogy stands as one of the most important works of fiction in the twentieth century' ANTONIA SENIOR, THE TIMESSeries: Virago Modern Classics
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Book Details
INFORMATION
ISBN: 9780349018607
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group
Format: Paperback / softback
Date Published: 10 July 2025
Country: United Kingdom
Imprint: Virago Press Ltd
Contributors:
- Introduction by Tom Holland
Audience: General / adult
DIMENSIONS
Spine width: 32.0mm
Width: 126.0mm
Height: 196.0mm
Weight: 351g
Pages: 448
About the Author
Mary Renault (1905-1983) was born in London and educated at St Hughs, Oxford. She trained as a nurse at Oxford's Radcliffe Infirmary, where she met her lifelong partner, Julie Mullard. Her first novel, Purposes of Love, was published in 1937. In 1948, after North Face won a MGM prize worth $150,000, she and Mullard emigrated to South Africa. There, Renault was able to write forthrightly about homosexual relationships for the first time - in her masterpiece, The Charioteer (1953), and then in her first historical novel, The Last of the Wine (1956). Renault's vivid novels set in the ancient world brought her worldwide fame. In 2010 Fire From Heaven was shortlisted for the Lost Booker of 1970.
Also by Mary Renault
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The Charioteer
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The King Must Die
Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics — Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe. The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
The Last of the Wine
A VIVID, SWEEPING SAGA OF QUEER LOVE AND POLITICS IN ANCIENT GREECE, FROM THE QUEEN OF HISTORICAL FICTION'Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' DOUGLAS STUART'Arresting and beautiful and moving . . . decades ahead of its time' LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKSYour love made me. Do not take it away; for without love I am a temple forsaken by its god...Paperback$2799Unit price /UnavailableIn StockShips today -
Funeral Games
The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat' SARAH WATERS In the final novel of her stunning trilogy, Mary Renault vividly imagines the life of Alexander the Great, the charismatic leader whose drive and ambition created a legend. Alexander the Great died at the age of thirty-three, leaving behind...PaperbackSold Out -
The King Must Die
'Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent, infused at every turn with her life-long passion for the Classics' - Madeline Miller, bestselling author of Circe. The true parentage of Theseus, grandson of the King of Troizon, has always been shrouded in mystery. Rumours swirl that his father is Poseidon himself. But when he learns the...HardbackSold Out -
The Bull from the Sea
This second instalment in the story of the legendary hero begins with Theseus' triumphant return from Crete after slaying the Minotaur. Having freed the city of Athens from the onerous tribute demanded by the ruler of Knossos — the sacrifice of noble youths and maidens to the appetite of the Labyrinth's monster — Theseus has returned home to find his...PaperbackSold Out -
Funeral Games
The Alexander Trilogy contains some of Renault's finest writing. Lyrical, wise, compelling: the novels are a wonderful imaginative feat - SARAH WATERS The heavens say it begins with the death of the King . . . Alexander the Great, conqueror of an empire stretching from Greece to Egypt to India, is dead at the age of thirty-three. His only direct...PaperbackSold Out -
The Last of the Wine
‘All my sense of the ancient world – its values, its style, the scent of its wars and passions – comes from Mary Renault. Her Theseus novels are perhaps the most exciting of her Greek fictions, and The Last of the Wine the most moving. I turned to writing historical fiction because of something I learned from Renault: that it...PaperbackSold Out -
The Bull from the Sea
Mary Renault is a shining light - HILARY MANTEL Mary Renault's portraits of the ancient world are fierce, complex and eloquent - MADELINE MILLER The sequel to The King Must Die. The Bull from the Sea continues the story of the hero Theseus after his return from Crete. Having freed the city of Athens from the terrible tribute demanded by...PaperbackSold Out -
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'One of the greatest historical novels ever written' - SARAH WATERS 'I love to find queer representation in historical fiction. . . Renault's eye for intimacy is amazing' - DOUGLAS STUART 'Fierce, complex and eloquent' - MADELINE MILLER 'Mary Renault is a shining light' - HILARY MANTEL A groundbreaking queer classic and powerful reimagining of the last years of Alexander...PaperbackSold Out -
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