Rating: 
Summary: Instructive for Present Day Carthaginian/Republicans
Review: According to Dodge, Carthage was a wealthy trading city-state that refused to tax itself. Sound familiar? Dodge shows how Hannibal proved that he was the best general in recorded history, and his assessment was made even after writing detailed texts on Alexander, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, and Napolean as well as the American Civil War generals he served under.
Although the United States presently has the greatest military force and leadership the world has ever known, we are not entirely immune from the stinginess of Carthage. Carthage refused to help Hannibal in an ancient version of tax revolt, but Hannibal still gave Rome decisive defeat after defeat after defeat. He taught them, Dodge shows, what real generalship and strategies were, and helped them progress from mere bravura into the refined tactics and strategies that used their strength to advantage. ...
Rating:
Summary: Instructive for Present Day Carthaginian/Republicans
Review: According to Dodge, Carthage was a wealthy trading city-state that refused to tax itself. Sound familiar? Dodge shows how Hannibal proved that he was the best general in recorded history, and his assessment was made even after writing detailed texts on Alexander, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, and Napolean as well as the American Civil War generals he served under.
Although the United States presently has the greatest military force and leadership the world has ever known, we are not entirely immune from the stinginess of Carthage. Carthage refused to help Hannibal in an ancient version of tax revolt, but Hannibal still gave Rome decisive defeat after defeat after defeat. He taught them, Dodge shows, what real generalship and strategies were, and helped them progress from mere bravura into the refined tactics and strategies that used their strength to advantage. ...
Rating: 
Summary: Excellent research of field tactics in Ancient Warfare
Review: Author provides exact details in reference to troop movements and tactics from both sides of the 2nd Punic War. References are discussed in detail as well as differences of opinion between historians. Subjects such as which route was taken by Hannibal to cross the Alps or the exact location of the Cannae battlefield are logically worked out for the reader. This is an excellent reference for the 2nd Punic War and the Roman system at that time.
Rating:
Summary: Solid History and Good Writing
Review: Dodge died over 100 years ago, yet this book is still found for sale in many book stores and, of course, on Amazon.com. That simple truth tells you more about this book then my review could hope too. Great books survive, bad ones are forgetten.Of course, since I only gave this book four stars, I don't necessarily think it is great. It is a good book, easy to read and clear on the details. Since it was written long ago, the clearness of its script, thus, seems even more remarkable. In Hannibal, Dodge details Hannibal's war with Rome, often referred to as the Second Punic War. (The first fought by his father, the second came some time (30 years?) afterwards.) Most historians have heard of Hannibal and the general outline of this war. Dodge gives great detail based on (1) his own war experience during America's Civil War (2) his own travels of the countries involved in this war and (3) his readings of the older texts. Each chapter begins with a one page summary, followed by the details of each event listed. Skip the summaries, and you might enjoy the book more, otherwise, its seems repetitive, because it just was. Dodge also talks alot about "glory" and honor. It is strange to hear such comments from a American Civil War veteran. Not that that war didn't have its share of both, but that the American Civil War is often thought of one of the first "modern wars" where bravery was important but machines made more difference. The truth is different. Brave men have always, and will always be the key difference between success or failure in any venture. The keen interest of Hannibal's times is that, in part, with so fewer machines or men, it was easier for a great man to make even more of an impact. Hannibal was that man. A man who almost changed the direction of the world from a Roman Empire to a Carthigian one. Dodge's insights and honesty, worth reading 100 years after his death, will have relevence for most historians for at least 100 years to come.
Rating:
Summary: Punic Patriot
Review: Dodge really hits the mark with his epic account of Hannibal's campaigns against Rome. Unlike the Caesar narrative, which sticks pedantically to the military equation and refuses discussion of Roman politics, Dodge allows himself much greater latitude in exploring who Hannibal was, what motivated him and what political forces drove him to his final defeat at Zama. Having performed one of the great logistical feats of all time (elephants across the Alps), Hannibal's army remained on the Italian peninsula for the best part of twenty years, gradually losing the strategic initiative but never suffering a decisive defeat. Yet as Dodge explains, had the Carthaginian Senate provided Hannibal with backup after his stupendous triumph over the Roman consuls at Cannae in 216 B.C., victory could have been his. Interestingly, Dodge is at odds with the later writer Liddell Hart on the supposed genius of Hannibal's nemesis, Scipio Africanus: Dodge ranks him behind Fabius and Nero. (Dodge's account of Nero's march to the Battle of the Metaurus is thrilling).
Rating:
Summary: Punic Patriot
Review: Dodge really hits the mark with his epic account of Hannibal's campaigns against Rome. Unlike the Caesar narrative, which sticks pedantically to the military equation and refuses discussion of Roman politics, Dodge allows himself much greater latitude in exploring who Hannibal was, what motivated him and what political forces drove him to his final defeat at Zama. Having performed one of the great logistical feats of all time (elephants across the Alps), Hannibal's army remained on the Italian peninsula for the best part of twenty years, gradually losing the strategic initiative but never suffering a decisive defeat. Yet as Dodge explains, had the Carthaginian Senate provided Hannibal with backup after his stupendous triumph over the Roman consuls at Cannae in 216 B.C., victory could have been his. Interestingly, Dodge is at odds with the later writer Liddell Hart on the supposed genius of Hannibal's nemesis, Scipio Africanus: Dodge ranks him behind Fabius and Nero. (Dodge's account of Nero's march to the Battle of the Metaurus is thrilling).
Rating:
Summary: History as if written yesterday
Review: Dodge's book was written over a hundred years ago. The author has traveled around the battlefields of the second Punic War and tried to work out from the existing historical sources what really happened. Dodge was an army officer who served in the American Civil War. As such he knows the difficulty of moving large bodies of men, of supplying them with food, the difficulties of feeding horses and keeping them in good condition. The book establishes the greatness of Hannibal. Very little is left to tell us much of what Carthaginian civilization was like. Coins and sculpture suggest that the Greeks heavily influenced it. We know that Carthage was an oligarchy and that it was a city that traded extensively. It seems that it was probably a city that depended on slavery to produce its agricultural produce. This led to Rome having a pronounced advantage in the conflicts between the two cities. Rome had a sizeable peasant class who were integrated into its civil life. The Roman peasant class formed the basis of its armies. Rome as well had built up a coalition of allied cities some of which shared the benefits of citizenship. This meant that in any conflict Rome was able to put in the field 750,000 soldiers. In addition it had considerable economic power. Thus in the first Punic war Rome was able to build a number of fleets to challenge the Carthaginians at sea. The Carthaginians did not have a large class of landed peasants who could be mobilized and they depended on mercenary armies. The history of Carthage prior to their first war with Rome was not a history of military brilliance. Carthage had considerable problems in maintaining their control over about a third of Sicily fighting a large number of wars with the Greek city of Syracuse. Rome in addition to being able to raise large numbers of men had developed a superior military unit. The predominant military unit prior to the rise of Rome was an infantry formation called he phalanx. This was a Greek invention. Heavily armored men would stand shoulder to shoulder and advance in a mass. The phalanx was effective in crushing the more lightly armed Persian troops during the time of Alexander. The Romans developed he legion. Its troops were armed with a short stabbing sword rather than a spear. Each soldier stood further apart than the phalanx. The formation was more flexible and the more spread out nature of the Roman formation allowed them to outflank the more compact Greek formations. The twin advantages of a large population meant that Rome would over the next 400 years win wars even when poor generals led it. It had a military organization that was would work even with generals of limited talents and if something went wrong the Roman state could put army after army into the field. The decline of the Roman empire occurred when the military organization of the state changed and peasant levies gave rise to mercenary armies. It would seem that Hannibal's father Hamilicar was an extremely competent military commander. He fought a guerrilla campaign against the Romans during the first war. After the peace he put down a mercenary revolt in Africa with numerically inferior forces. He then went on to conquer Spain. The reason for conquering Spain was to provide an economic base for the conquest of Rome. His son Hannibal fought in Spain to consolidate his fathers conquests. Hannibal's war with Rome is remarkable in many respects but the one which Dodge explains is that it was a private war. The Carthaginian State did not really have the resources to finance a war with Rome. The enterprise was based on revenue from Spanish mines as were most of the infantry. Spain was in effect the personal property of Hannibal. He made a decision to attack Rome and Carthage agreed this decision to as it did not mean that they had to contribute much to the war effort. Hannibal realized that to defeat Rome he would have to break up the Roman confederation. His strategy was to invade Italy and by winning military victories to prize away Romes allies. In the end the scheme failed. Rome lost army after army but she was always able to raise more. In the end the Romans held Hannibal at bay while conquering Spain and cutting off the chance of fresh troops. Hannibal had to retreat to Africa were he was at last beaten at the battle of Zama. Rome triumphed and went on to rule most of what is now Europe for 800 years. Dodge rates Hannibal as one of antiquities greatest figures. Although in the end his career was a failure the challenges he had to face were immense. Alexander the Great inherited an army and faced enemies of much less caliber and steel than Hannibal did. Caesar was born into the Roman empire and was given command of armies which Hannibal could only dream of. Hannibal's achievement's were immense. He fashioned with his father a private state sufficiently rich to enable him to raise a private army. That army he trained and honed into one of the finest of its age. He won spectacular victories over what was to be the strongest power in Europe for hundreds of years. His campaigns were far sighted and he had enormous talents in keeping together for over ten years a mercenary army made up of many different peoples. In Italy he was one of the first to create an intelligence network to monitor the movement of Roman armies and to anticipate cities which might be willing to change allegiance to his side. Despite these many talents there is a limit to what an individual can do when faced by a nation. Dodges book is readable and in its own way fascinating. His own war experience gives him a much richer understanding of the campaigns and the maneuvers between the battles. The histories which still survive are those written by Polybius, Livy and Plutarch. Dodge is of the view that Polybius had a grasp of military matters which Livy and Plutarch lacked. He has to reconstruct the movements of the various armies to get a real picture of what was happening. All in all a fascinating book which conveys the nuts and bolts reality of warfare in the ancient world.
Rating:
Summary: Fine Book on History 's Greatest General
Review: Dodge's history of the Second Punic War is a marvelous narrative of perhaps the greatest military campaign ever conceived or executed. The only flaws were Hannibal's dependence on his native Carthagonians for reinforcements and material support and his underestimation of the political cohesiveness of the Roman Empire. When one considers that Hannibal survived, and even flourished militarily, for more than fifteen years in the hostile territory of Roman Italy, only then can the accomplishments of Hannibal be understood. Dodge artfully describes these accomplishments and puts them in their proper perspective. His description of his abandonment by the Carthagonians, out of fear of his political strength, is compelling. The book is well written and flows. The author describes not only the military campaigns from a tactical perspective but also does a fine job explaining the strategic and political imperatives. Dodge describes Hannibal's crossing of the Alps and his campaign in Italy as primarily a political war whose intent was to divide the states that made up the Roman Empire. As such, Dodge shows a deep understanding of the nature of the War and what led to the ultimate Roman victory. For anyone wishing to understand the rise of the Roman Empire or the accomplishments of Hannibal this is a must read.
Rating:
Summary: Simply amazing. I'w will try T.A. Dodge again
Review: First of all, beeing a spaniard (sorry for my english) I was quite suprised to find this huge book in the darkest corner of the word (a little, very old, bookshop in Istambul, Turkey) But that surprise was nothing compared with what I (a wargamer that really loves ancient history) discovered beetwen the pages of this book. The real better author in military history i've ever found. My only concern is that I paid almost twice the price of this book to the old turk bookseller who cheat in the worst way. (¡anyway, the book deserves what I paid for it!)
Rating:
Summary: Dodge's Classic is Never Dull
Review: For a book of almost 700 pages, Dodge's Hannibal is never dull.
Dodge recreates the Hannibal's battles with amazing detail, considering the events occured over 2,100 years prior to his account. I would highly recommend this book for anyone interested in ancient battle tactics, or the Roman legions.
| 
