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Alexander's Lighthouse Paperback – August 24, 2012

by Don Westenhaver (Author)
4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings
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In 92 AD, the imperial city of Rome rules Western civilization, but the city of Alexandria Egypt is the unchallenged pinnacle of Western intellectual achievement. Its prestigious Museum and Library are magnets that draw the world’s most important philosophers, mathematicians, astronomers, physicians and geographers. Alexandria also draws a young man named Marco from Corinth, who joins a small team of brilliant engineers working on secret projects. Titus, the Roman Prefect of Egypt, knew Marco’s father so he sponsors the young man, who then promptly falls in love with Titus’ daughter Paula. Populated by native Egyptians, colonized by Greeks, settled by Jewish immigrants, and ruled by the Romans, the huge city of Alexandria is a cultural melting pot that frequently boils over. At least once a month, highly organized insurgents emerge to harass the Roman Army occupation forces and then quickly disappear back into the alleys and apartments. Titus orders Marco’s team to find a new weapon to help defeat the rebels. They create a shockingly powerful device, but before they can deliver it to Titus, the rebels obtain it and begin murdering the engineers to keep the device secret from the Romans. A mysterious woman named Nebit, young, beautiful, and wealthy, befriends Marco, but he tries to stay faithful to Paula. He also questions her true intentions because of her past history and her belief that she is the reincarnation of Egypt’s last Pharaoh, Queen Cleopatra. Suddenly cut off from Paula and from Roman protection, Marco goes into hiding at Nebit’s estate, not knowing she is the widow of the former head of the rebel forces. The rebels, who have spies even in the Roman administration, kidnap Paula and commence full-scale production of the new weapons, planning to overthrow the Romans on the very day that Emperor Domitian comes to visit. Marco, desperate to save Paula and prevent the rebels from using the new weapons, finally gains access to Titus. Together they discover the rebels’ hiding place, but it’s too late. They now know the power of the weapons, but not how and when the rebels will use them.
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  1. Print length
    370 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    August 24, 2012
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    1478231181
  6. ISBN-13
    978-1478231189
  7. See all details
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Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ CreateSpace Independent Publishing Platform (August 24, 2012)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 370 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1478231181
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1478231189
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.84 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.8 4.8 out of 5 stars 7 ratings

Customer reviews

4.8 out of 5 stars
4.8 out of 5
7 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Kirk Raeber
5.0 out of 5 stars Great read
Reviewed in the United States on September 2, 2019
Verified Purchase
I really enjoyed reading Alexander's Lighthouse. The history of the time was very interesting to me. The author did a wonderful job to keep the reader's interest. I could not see any of the plot twists coming. I could not put the book down, I most highly recommend this wonderful read.
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Fred Mench
4.0 out of 5 stars Good Historical Novel
Reviewed in the United States on November 24, 2012
Don Westenhaver. Alexander's Lighthouse. 2012. Pp. 369 (pb.). ISBN 9781478231189.

Alexander's Lighthouse is the sequel to Nero's Concert (2009), which I liked and reviewed earlier this year, but you do not have to have read the earlier novel to understand this one. No major characters in this book were in Nero's Concert, set in 64 CE. The link is that Rusticus and Camilla, principal characters of the first novel, are the parents of Marco here, but Rusticus is dead and Camilla and the rest of the family are back in Corinth, where we left them the last time we saw them. The previous theme of Christians keeping a low profile because of the emperor and the rest of society is muted here, 28 years later. Marco is a Christian and most of the other characters are aware of this, but it only comes into play in that this gives him some contacts in that community that he would not otherwise have. The main oppositions here are between Roman and Egyptian, with Greek somewhere in the middle.

The story revolves around the attempt of a Free Egypt movement to throw the Romans out of Egypt in 92 CE, just before the emperor Domitian is about to visit. (All the other characters mentioned below, except the inventor Hero, are fictional.) Titus Cornelius, the Roman Prefect of Egypt, has a daughter, Paula, who provides one of the two main love interests of Marco, who recently arrived to work in the Museum at Alexandria. He had trained as a doctor, but the Museum complex has plenty of doctors, so he is assigned to a 4-man engineering group who are supposed to develop useful tools or weapons for the Romans, drawing on the designs of the Alexandrian Greek, Hero (earlier 1st cent CE).

This brings up one of the two elements that is a plus or minus depending on the reader. If you are interested in science and engineering, you will really like some of the discussions among the 4 men of the group, such as a critique of the Greek Eratosthenes' calculation of the circumference of the earth. If you find this boring or too hard to follow, just bleep through as you would a commercial in your favorite recorded program.

The second element is the introduction of Greek Fire (an ancient form of napalm) this early and the attribution of the invention of a still more deadly and anachronistic offensive weapon by the Museum working group. If you cannot accept these as possible, then this is a minus for you. If you are convinced by the meticulous and ingenious explanation of how this happened (by watching it develop by logical experimentation), then you will find this fascinating. Note that Westenhaver explains in his Author's Note why he puts these 2 inventions earlier than any attestations. An added delight will be how the author explains the suppression of this new technology by Domitian after both weapons have been used in the Battle of Alexandria between the Roman legions and the Egyptian rebels that closes the action of the novel.

Putting all this aside, there is the plot line of a young man, Marco, torn between the love of a suitable girl-friend/wife, the lovely young Paula, and the seductions of an even more beautiful and accomplished Egyptian woman, Nebit. If you have read the novel, The Egyptian, by Mika Waltari, you will be expecting Nebit to be an evil woman who causes the destruction of Marco. She's not, but I won't tell you more about her character, role and fate. The twists and turns of the relationships seem perfectly possible, with lots of complications, including the kidnapping of Paula and the revenge Nebit seeks on the Free Egypt leader, who killed her husband.

There is a plentiful amount of fighting, which keeps the action moving, and a fair amount of romance, for those who don't care for fighting. The writing is good and the historical research solid. Except for the weaponry issues mentined above, which Westenhaver addresses in his Author's Note, the reader can pretty much trust the reliability of the author's geographic and military knowledge, as well as the cultural backgrounds of the 3 cultures dealt with. One seeming loose end at the conclusion sets up the possibility of a sequel involving the weaponry.

This is a good read and a welcome introduction to the Alexandria of late first century CE, including a detailed discussion of the famous lighthouse on Pharos. Readers of historical fiction will be the main audience, but anyone liking a good yarn well told should enjoy it also.

Fred Mench,
Professor of Classics, Emeritus
Richard Stockton College of New Jersey
3 people found this helpful
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Book Editor
5.0 out of 5 stars A Masterful Historical Thriller
Reviewed in the United States on January 9, 2016
The creative mind of Don Westenhaver resides quite comfortably in another land and another time. His historical fiction novel, Alexander’s Lighthouse, carries a touch of raw realism and authenticity. Don could have been born in the Imperial City of Rome during 92 A.D., and we would have never known the difference. He has produced a brilliant work of wars, rumors of war, love, jealousy, and greed that crept throughout Western civilization at a time when men did not know whom to trust, never knowing who might betray them next.

The story is told through the eyes of Marco, a young doctor who only came to Rome for an opportunity to study at the great Museum and Library of Alexandria. He is simply a scholar trying to enrich his mind, content to isolate himself from the political unrest that lies heavy across the landscape. But fate has other ideas. Alas, he falls in love with Paula, the daughter of the Prefect of Rome. She’s the wrong woman. He is seduced by the beautiful and wealthy Nesbit, who has more on her mind than love in the heat of a Roman night. She’s not the right woman either. What are her motives? Does she want to save Marco? Or will she ultimately betray and kill him? And is she far less evil than you might believe? She claims to be the reincarnation of the last Egyptian Pharaoh. But who is she? And whose blood does she really want to shed?

All around them, the city and the country threaten to erupt in war. A group of dissidents, known as the Mob, come out of the shadows at night and take their shots at the Roman Army. They strike quickly and ruthlessly, then melt back into the darkness. Their aim is to once again have a free and independent Egypt. It is either a noble cause or treason depending entirely on a citizen’s point of view.

The city is tense, nervous, and up in arms. Marco’s father had been a legendary gladiator, so he is assigned to work with an engineering team to develop new weapons that will strengthen the Roman grip on a city populated by Egyptians but ruled by Romans. They construct a powerful weapon that may be the deadliest device known to mankind.

The stage is set. Politicians grow callused. Spies lurk at the far end of every alleyway. Romance and revenge go hand in hand. In his grand and ambitious novel, Alexander’s Lighthouse, Don Westenhaven has created a masterful historical thriller that is brooding, believable, and beautifully written.
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