Hannibal

Hannibal by Dodge, Theodore Ayrault. paperback edition. ISBN: 9780306806544.

Hannibal is often considered the finest general the world has ever known. Setting out from Carthaginian-dominated Spain with a small army of select troops, he fought his way over the Pyrenees and crossed the Alps with elephants and a full baggage train. Descending into Italy, he destroyed the main Roman army at Lake Trasimeno and came close to conquering Rome itself. At Cannae, Hannibals brilliant cavalry tactics enabled him to cut to pieces a reassembled Roman army, and his subsequent defeats over a fifteen-year stay in Italy were due more to lack of sufficient support from home than to any failings of generalship.T. A. Dodges classic history, first published in 1891, is equally perceptive of Hannibals military prowess and his visionary character. Dodge followed Hannibals route from Carthage to Italy, paying particular attention to the famous crossing of the Alps, exploring every pass in order to determine Hannibals route. In this book, he wrote an entire history of the art of war among these two mighty armies and included hundreds of invaluable illustrations. Hannibal remains unequaled as the most comprehensive and readable study of historys greatest general.