Alexander, trilogy (1. Child of a dream, 2. The sands of Ammon, 3. The ends of the earth) - Valerio Massimo Manfredi

This trilogy is about the life of Alexander the Great - son of Philip II, king of Macedonia - who became the chief of the largest empire of the world when he was just 30.
Alexander spent the first years of his life in Macedonia, trained by his father’s officers and the great Greek philosopher Aristotle. He then joined his father’s army as the commander of the cavalry special corps. After his father’s death he was crowned king and promptly started a military campaign that would first lead him to control the whole of the Ancient Greek world, and eventually the Persian empire, including Egypt, Central Asia and the western part of the Indian subcontinent.

Alexander is one of the greatest figures in western history, a visionary, a man with an incredible charm that no one could resist.
In the epilogue, Ptolemy - one of his best friends and greatest generals - explains how, soon after Alexander died at the age of 33, the unity of those childhood companions was shattered and a bloody power struggle started.  
Valerio Massimo Manfredi tells the saga of Alexander the Great as rigorously and thoroughly as an expert historian might do. Yet, it reads like a beautiful novel. It is therefore highly recommended.