[1] It is the story of Alexander the Great's invasion of the Afghan kingdoms (the Afghanistan of today) in 330 BC through the eyes of Matthias (Μαντίθεος in Greek), a young soldier from Macedonia, who narrates the adventures of the Macedonian army against the Eastern warriors.

Matthias fights for Alexander the Great's infantry confronting ferocious people who, determined to defend their homeland, follow tough war methods.

Pressfield presents the brutalities and ferocities of both parties while he does not omit to refer to the vanity and voraciousness of Alexander the Great who in the last pages of the novel marries the Bactrian Roxane (Ρωξάνη in Greek), daughter of Oxyartes.

While marching, Matthias meets Shinar, an Afghan woman who, having abandoned her own people, offers her services as carrier of the Greek army's supplies.

Instead of returning home (his wife and son having been killed) as initially planned and having nothing to lose, he decides to follow the Greek army in its way to India.