Anibal, el orgullo de Cartago (Pride of Carthage: A Novel of Hannibal) Book

Heard many great things about this book from friends.... you dinny let me down!

Great storytelling from the get-go with Hannibal front & centre with his brothers, which after trying another series was exactly what I was after, having wanted to read about the period of the 2nd Punic war from Hannibal's (Carthage) stance.

The Barca family are characterised as POV main players along with their Roman adversaries. The author also includes a few (low level) characters namely one from the infantry, a Numidian scout, a scribe, a merchant & a camp follower giving us their perspective on the campaign which is a welcome angle & never an intrusive interlude. The author gets this absolutely spot on as you find yourself wanting to know how Imco & Aradna are getting on? Are they still alive? Did they survive the battle? Where are they now?

The opening chapter is devoted to the evolvement of the characters & setting the scene for the clash with Rome which is painted as inevitable from a Carthaginian stance..... them Romans although fighting elsewhere cannot be trusted which is engrained in the young Hannibal from his father Hamilcar. Carthage, Iberia, Gaul, Macedon & Rome are all part of the story & politics which are revealed to the reader.

The journey through the Alps is perilous as the army is decimated & shrinks from a likely 100,000 to less than 30,000 but it works & as we know puts the Romans on the back foot with an invading army on their soil. Rome's arrogance & dismissal of the Carthaginians as mere barbarian's plays a part in his victories as well as the Romans seem to blunder forward into most battles, all of which Hannibal has prepared a trap / tactic to combat the Roman war machine.

The tactics of the generals are laid out & great to follow, the Romans, now wary, forever changing their tract as the defeats rack up. Their arrogance & supreme confidence shattered after so many comprehensive defeats.

Battle of Cannae was brutal, brilliant strategy by Hannibal against an overconfident foe, who he then proceeds to slaughter in a box..... some of these ancient battles are unimaginable, the claustrophobia, the desperation, the brutality, the fear, kill or be killed, the fatigue, men fighting to a standstill & then merely dispatched. The description of the battle, the aftermath & the injuries of the survivors is quite chilling as you try to imagine the emotion each combatant had gone though during the battle, Adreline will carry a man so far but the sheer exhaustion described in the text must have been something.....

After Cannae the Romans are there for the taking, with all their generals dead or defeated only one name steps forward to try & save them.... that of Consul Publius Cornelius Scipio, his actions & POV as a character now come to the fore, which is great as you see how he combats/counteracts Hannibal & his brothers.

All the major battles & events of the 2nd Punic War are covered.

The ending..... well you all know your history BUT it's still a gripping finale as it's all laid out.

The book could have been longer for me, I say that even as it weighs in at jus under 600 pages, or even written over 2 volumes as the wealth of detail at the start does fall away in the later stages of the book especially when we're away from Hannibal's POV & felt (wanted even) could have had more..... but it's still very good & right up there with one of my best reads of the year.

Even knowing the final outcome through legend its been an enthralling read & I give it a full 5 stars