Hannibal by Phillip Freeman
After more than 2,200 years, the story of Hannibal has lost none of its fascination. The North African nobleman led an army, including war elephants, across the Alps to strike at Rome from behind. Despite being cut-off from reinforcements and facing an enormous army on their own soil—not to mention political backstabbing in his home city of Carthage—Hannibal nearly won.
Philip Freeman adds nothing new but retells the story for a new generation in a pleasing prose style. Hannibal is still studied in military schools for his daring strategy and masterful tactics. He was bold but not impulsive, understood the psychology of his opponents and was a leader who inspired his men by sharing their hardships as well as through his oratory. He recruited spies and allies, promising liberation for the subject peoples of the Italian peninsula.
“One of the greatest joys in studying the past is to imagine what would have happened if events had turned out differently,” Freeman writes. If Hannibal had won, the Latin language would have died, meaning no French or Spanish and a different evolution for the English language. The Greek kingdoms under Alexander the Great’s successors would have continued and Carthage might have become a global maritime power, sending ships around the African coast to India. Freeman imagines that in time, they may even have reached the New World.
