Book Review -Hannibal, Pride of Carthage by David Anthony Durham
July 17th 2007 09:23
An epic work of literary fiction about the superb military leader of Carthage, Hannibal Barca, and his struggle against the mighty Roman Republic. With a vast cast of characters and nationalities, twists of fate, and tales of inspired leadership, David Anthony Durham perfectly captures the legendary Hannibal's world in Pride of Carthage. Beginning in ancient Spain, where Hannibal's father had carved out a Carthaginian empire, the novel traces the origins of the war, the opening moves, and Hannibal's inspired choice to attack Rome via a land route most believed impossible.
In graphic, panoramic prose, Durham describes the battles, including the icy slaughter of the Trebia; the mist-shrouded battle along Lake Trasimene; the battle of Cannae, in which Hannibal's outnumbered force surrounded and decimated seventy thousand Romans in a single afternoon; and Zama, the hard slog that proved to be the decisive contest. Along the way we meet a variety of major historical figures on both sides of the conflict, as well as characters representing the vast array of other ethnicities who played a part in the war: Iberians and Gauls, Numidians and Libyans, Macedonians and Moors.
Hannibal's family is brought to life: his wife, mother, sisters, and young son, as is Publius Scipio, the young Roman who was the only match for Hannibal's genius on the field of battle--and who eventually defeated him. Pride of Carthage is a stunning achievement in historical fiction, one that will transport readers to a world of mesmerizing authenticity of character, event, and detail. (net sourced)
I was wandering around our local library and thought this would be worth a read, as Hannibal had been mentioned in that previous book, Life Lessions from History's Heroes and I knew he had crossed the Alps etc but didn't know much more than that. So I settled down one cold evening and started reading. Its amazing the facts you can learn as I never knew that Iberia is now Spain etc and having lived in a town with Roman history, this sort of fiction I find really interesting.
Now this isn't a small book at 639 pages but it is very well written, plotted and paced, the research to write an epic like this must have been staggering. This is well worth taking the time to read, as its based on actual events and the sheer scale of the journey, battles and losses of men is hard to understand when living in the modern world. But if you take time to think about what Hannibal achieved and how he did it, well what can you say apart from Wow!
The intetresting thing I found was how through the novel, you see the main character change and with events in the world today, makes you think which is always a good thing.
Apart from some of the names sounding a bit similar, I couldn't find any fault with this book, just excellent, so well worth begging, borrowing or buying.
kiwiauthor rating 9/10
Heath
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