Welcome back to Alessandro III di Macedonia- your source about Alexander the Great and Hellenism, I’m Elena and happy Sunday! Here’s the last announcement of a publication that I had yet to make to you (at least for the moment). It’s a volume of an historical fiction saga:

The Dancing Floor of War

by Mark G. McLaughlin

(Throne of Darius #6)

Edited by Krystallia Papadimitriou

Maps by Krystallia Papadimitriou

Cover by Scott Mitchelson

Amazon Kindle Direct Publishing, 2024

ALEXANDER OF MACEDON would have thrown the author of this series of historical novels under the whirling blades of a Persian chariot. Why? Because Mark G. McLaughlin has the audacity to tell the story of the young conqueror’s wars not as tales of honor and glory, but for what they truly were: brutal, murderous, merciless even monstrous campaigns that enslaved entire peoples and destroyed great civilizations and doomed the world to hundreds of years of internecine warfare. Here is the account the victor and his apologists do not want told; the too-long buried view from the other side of the Macedonian phalanx; the story of the men and women who stood against a tyrant in defense of their homes, their families, and their very souls.
THE DANCING FLOOR OF WAR is the sixth installment in the gripping THRONE OF DARIUS series. As Alexander ventures to Gaugamela, Darius assembles the mightiest Persian host ever seen and sets the stage for a monumental confrontation against the Macedonian conqueror. As the clash ensues, a brutal battle unfolds, casting a shadow of imminent defeat over Alexander’s once-invincible army. However, when the two powerful Kings finally meet in a face-to-face encounter, the course of history hangs in the balance.

MARK G. MCLAUGHLIN has been a writer, journalist, author, and game-designer for nearly 50 years. His works include two history books, The Wild Geese and Battles of the American Civil War, and the science-fiction novel Princess Ryan’s Star Marines. He has published 25 board games, including Ancient Civilizations of the Inner Sea and Ancient Civilizations of the Middle East. Mark is an avid miniatures painter and wargamer, and has been fighting out the battles of Alexander and his era for more than half a century

“There are four sides to every story: your side, their side, the truth, and what really happened.” -Rousseau

History is written by the victors – but theirs is but one of the “four sides to every story” as Rousseau explained. In the THRONE OF DARIUS series author Mark G. McLaughlin allows those Greeks and Persians who stood AGAINST the warmongering tyranny of ALEXANDER of MACEDON to tell their side of the story. If Alexander met this story teller he would have chained and dragged his still living but broken body behind his chariot (as he did to the Persian garrison commander at Gaza). Why would he do so? For having the audacity to expose the brutal, murderous, merciless, and monstrous campaign by which the young Macedonian king sacked a score or more of cities, killed and enslaved tens if not hundreds of thousands of people, and brought down one of the greatest civilizations the world has ever known. Here is the account the victors and those who seek to emulate them do not want told; the epic tale of the men and women who stood in defense of their homes, their families, and their very souls against a foreign invader.

THE DANCING FLOOR OF WAR is the sixth book in the ongoing THRONE OF DARIUS series. In this volume Alexander battles his way across the Euphrates, crosses the Tigris and marches on Babylon – only to be met head-on by the Persian king of kings on the dusty plain of Arbela. There they will engage in the largest and bloodiest battle of the age, an epic struggle named for the little hamlet of Gaugamela, where two powerful monarchs will come face to face on the dancing floor of war.

This volume is the last (for now?) in the Throne of Darius series and is a must read. I noticed that the paperback’s edition cover is darker, or at least the image shown on Amazon is. I hope it’s just an error with Amazon’s listing because if it were truly the cover of the paperback it would be too dark and wouldn’t highlight the various elements.

Are you interested in this series? Are you already reading it?

Let me know, happy Sunday everyone,

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