Kings and Colonists deals with Macedonian Imperialism in the fourth to the second century BCE, the time of King Philip II and Alexander the Great, and of the dynasties of Alexander's successors, with special emphasis in western Asia.

The first part of the book examines the origins of Macedonian imperialism in Philip II's state-building activity, and discusses how the Macedonian rulers used propaganda to justify themselves to their Macedonian and Greek supporters, and how they interacted with the autonomous Greek cities. The second part examines different levels of the personnel of imperial control, trying to see in each case what these men contributed to and got out of the empire.

A final chapter looks at the effects of this imperialism on the Macedonian homeland, countering some modern arguments that the empire had a disastrous effect on Macedonian manpower.