Edmund Richardson is an associate professor in the department of Classics and Ancient History at Durham University. He has written several historical books, including Alexander: God, King, Man and Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City. He was the editor of Classics in Extremis: The Edges of Classical Reception, a collection of essays.
Academic career Richardson defended his PhD at the University of Cambridge in 2008, he was a Hannah Seeger Davis postdoctoral fellow in Hellenic studies at the University of Princeton, for 2009-2010. He then became the Leverhulme early career fellow at Durham for 2010-2012, before moving to the University of Leeds to become a lecturer for 2012-13. In 2013 Richardson took up an associate professorship at Durham.
Reviews In 2021, Richardson released his book Alexandria: The Quest for the Lost City, a biography of the 19th-century explorer Charles Masson who is associated with the modern discovery of Alexandria in the Caucasus. William Dalrymple, reviewer for The Guardian, provided an endorsement of the book: "The result, evocatively written, impeccably researched and minutely footnoted, but with the pace and deftly woven plot complexity of a John le Carré novel, is a small masterpiece." The Daily Telegraph reviewer Harry Sidebottom also liked the book, describing it "a brilliant and evocative biography, written with consummate scholarship, great style and wit." The US version of the book has the title of The King's Shadow: Obsession, Betrayal, and the Deadly Quest for the Lost City of Alexandria. The New York Times''' reviewer, Joshua Hammer, referring to Masson, said "Richardson's colorful and compelling account gives this forgotten figure his due."
Richardson's 2026 account of the life of Alexander the Great, Alexander: God, King, Man, was given a positive review by The Economist in June 2026: "This book, which combines analysis with good old-fashioned fun, offers a lesson in how history can be both academically ambitious and readable." Patrick Kidd, reviewing the book in The Times, described it as absorbing and thorough, with "some delightful nuggets". James Romm in the Times Literary Supplement was more critical, particularly in respect of some of the book's sourcing: "Richardson seems to have gone beyond the historical record in an effort to give Alexander extra sex appeal. Regrettably, he has done much the same with his narrative as a whole." Alexander: God, King, Man'' was shortlisted for the 2026 Baillie Gifford Prize.
Bibliography
US edition has a different title to the UK release.
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