Aged twenty, Alexander, the wide-eyed boy from the hills of Macedon, inherited a tumbledown kingdom, a pile of debts and an army who answered to nobody. Desperate to hold on to power, he led the army east, into the heart of the vast Persian Empire, and inadvertently began the greatest military campaign in history. The young man became a king, the king became a hero, the hero became a living god, and the god died suspiciously, aged thirty-two, broken-hearted in Babylon.

For centuries, historians have told his story, yet the legendary figure has remained a mystery. That is until recently, when a series of remarkable discoveries – from the bottom of the Mediterranean Sea and the dust of Central Asian hillsides – emerged from the remains of Alexander's cities. The diaries of Babylonian astronomers who knew him have been deciphered. The tombs of his ancestors, crammed with gold, have been unearthed. So, for the first time, we have the opportunity to see Alexander as others saw him then.

Based on more than a decade of cutting-edge research, Alexander will allow listeners to step into Alexander's world in ways that have never before been possible: to feel the desert wind and experience the full horror of battle. Richardson's own researches have taken him from the catacombs of Egypt to the passes of the Himalayas, enabling him to unveil this compelling new portrait. He reveals intimate details of the young man's life – of his childhood and relationships, of his lovers and his torments – and the price he paid to become history's greatest conqueror. Alexander is a cinematic work of non-fiction: a revelatory retelling of one of the most famous and elusive stories in history.