Rating: 
Summary: An extremly entertaining book
Review: Hannibal by T.A. Dodge was a very complete and entertaining book. Dodge explains his interpretations of the histories writen by Livy and Polybius. Dodge also includes not only the life of Hannibal but all the Carthage-Rome relations in history. I reccomend this book to anyone who likes military or ancient history.
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Summary: Hannibal, Cavalry, and Craftiness
Review: Hannibal was to warfare what Paul Morhpy would later become to chess--the father of strategy. T. A. Dodge wrote a truly masterful account of Hannibal's army and his fight against the staunch Romans. Accurate and detailed, this book is perfectly organized, and each chapter is preceeded by a paragraph in small font that summarizes its content.This book is much more military history than a biography of Hannibal, and what masterful history it is! I was hooked from the very beginning, with author's apt description of the origins of Carthage, its financial strength, and political weakness. The best was yet to come: the second chapter described in detail the type of troops available to Hannibal. Hannibal's army must have been one spectacular sight. The motley crew of Carthagenians, Spaniards, Gauls, Numidians, and Jews, all sporting different and sometimes stange clothing; the heavily tattooed Africans with shaved heads and small beards, all dressed in red; the extensive use of perfume by much of the army; the strange and deadly Numidian cavalry; all this multi-cultural element was masterfully held together by Hannibal's genius and made into the most effective fighting force of its time. Dodge desribed battles and marches in great detail and he provides black and white diagrams of major battles. Even in connection with the diagrams, the descriptions of battles are not always easy to follow, unless you are trained in military history or have practical military experience, because understanding the dynamics of a battle challenges not only your conceptual intellect but also your ability to visualize events. Yet, I believe that after some effort most people will be able to reconstruct in their mind's eye at least the broad outlines of the battles based on Dodge's descriptions and diagrams. I did not always agree with Dodge. For example, he did not think that Scipio Africanus was a military genius (as he is considered as such by most authorities today). Instead, Dodge believed that Scipio was just an able general, whose victories were at least as much due to good "Fortune," as to his own abilities. Dodge ranks Scipio below Marcellus and Nero, even though the former won only a minor battle against Hannibal, and was eventually ambushed and killed by crafty Carthagenians. Dodge says that Scipio "did no more for Italy than Marcellus, less than Nero... Had Scipio faced Hannibal when Marcellus or Nero was called on to do so, he would probably have failed" (page 572). I think Dodge is partial to Hannibal and, for this reason, a bit bitter at Scipio, who defeated the great Carthagenian at Zama and put an end to his military career. Finally, I think that the victories that Hannibal achieved were not to such a great extent the result of his personality as Dodge makes it out to be. Although Hannibal's military genius is not in dispute, the other two elemetns--cavalry and craftiness--were at least as important. While the Carthagenian cavalry of Spaniards and Numidians outnumbered the Roman and was vastly superior to it in quality, Hannibal could be assured of victory. When this was no longer the case at the battle of Zama, the Romans won decisively. And, of course, the crafty strategy that Hannibal introduced was another trump card. At the time he appeared in Italy, the Romans had no strategy and very little tactics, so they were frequently misled, ambushed, trapped--and destroyed. It was not simply a matter of Hannibal's craftiness and calculation, but a matter of the enormous difference between this original, thoughtful, and cunning approach and the Roman simple, foolhardy habit to charge at the enemy and try to cut him to pieces with their double-edge swords. Relying on courage, discipline, and well manufactured weapons is just not enough--and that's what Hannibal taught the Romans. As soon as the Romans became more crafty and "strategic," they took the first step towards defeating Hannibal. Hannibal's genius lay in making the most use of what he had: his superior cavalry, strategy, and tactics. In all these areas the Romans were deficient, and so Hannibal's victories turned out to be so crushing against his comparatively disadvantage foe. There is no doubt that Hannibal contributed immensely to the art of war and gave one of the most convincing demonstrations in history that, on a battlefield, the mind is often superior to brute force.
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Summary: The Story of A Great Man
Review: Hannibal, by Theodore Ayrault Dodge is an excellent book if one wants to read about ancient warfare. Dodge focuses his attention mostly on the Second Punic War (219-202 B.C.) but he also gives a broad overview of the early war of both Carthage and Rome. Dodge goes in depth into how each city formed its armies, and what the tactics were right up to the Second Punic War. As a former soldier who fought in the American Civil War Dodge brings a soldiers eye for terrain, and he had the added benefit of actually going to the sites of Hannibal's famous battles. The biggest plus for Hannibal; besides the author actually visiting the battle fields; is that Dodge is an excellent writter. The narrative woven is a wonderful tale of a man on a quest to save his beloved Carthage from Rome. At the same time Dodge presents the Roman perspective of Hannibals march which adds balance to the book. Probably, the biggest plus of the book is that before each chapter there is a paragraph that explains what the chapter is about. Such a style is great for the beginning reader who may want to skip certain sections, as well as, the experienced historian who can use the summaries as a quick reference point. Finally, in Hannibal Dodge does not end with the death of Hannibal; instead he goes on to discuss events after Hannibals death, and he discusses the attributes of both Hannibal and Scipio Africanus. The book ends with the "classic" battles of legion verses phalanx thereby coming full cirlce in his tale of Carthage and Rome, and the struggle of the old Greek ways against the emergence of the Roman warmachine. If one is looking for a good history book that weaves an interesting tale as well as explain the tactics and weapons then Hannibal is a great book to pick up and read.
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Summary: A fair and honest tribute to an enternal hero!
Review: Hannibal, is one of those mytical figures that everyone knows of, but few people knows much about. And I sincerely believe the main reason that the author had written this book, more than 150 years ago, was an earnest attempt to clarfy the mist, and to let people know who Hannibal really was. This book started with the First Punic War as its background. All relevant historical facts were clearly presented by the author, which led to a resonable conclusion as to why the Second Punic War was fought. Having said that, the main focus of this book is the full depliction of the Second Punic War, the war in which Hannibal shines larger than life. The author went thru great lenght to compare the military, political, and geography components of the two waring parties, the Roman and the Carthagian. Especially of importance are his full analysis of the military leadership of Hannibal. The military genius' talents, as well as his weakness as a commander, were all throughly discussed in the pages. By reading this excellent book, one will not only gain lots of insights about the 'real' Hannibal, but one will also be greatly entertained by a grand lecture in ancient military history and theories.
Rating:
Summary: A fair and honest tribute to an enternal hero!
Review: Hannibal, is one of those mytical figures that everyone knows of, but few people knows much about. And I sincerely believe the main reason that the author had written this book, more than 150 years ago, was an earnest attempt to clarfy the mist, and to let people know who Hannibal really was. This book started with the First Punic War as its background. All relevant historical facts were clearly presented by the author, which led to a resonable conclusion as to why the Second Punic War was fought. Having said that, the main focus of this book is the full depliction of the Second Punic War, the war in which Hannibal shines larger than life. The author went thru great lenght to compare the military, political, and geography components of the two waring parties, the Roman and the Carthagian. Especially of importance are his full analysis of the military leadership of Hannibal. The military genius' talents, as well as his weakness as a commander, were all throughly discussed in the pages. By reading this excellent book, one will not only gain lots of insights about the 'real' Hannibal, but one will also be greatly entertained by a grand lecture in ancient military history and theories.
Rating: 
Summary: Even though I know how it ends...
Review: How do you tell that someone has created something extraordinary? When you are transfixed by it even though you know how it ends. T.A. Dodge's history of Hannibal had me hoping that somehow, the brilliant general would pull a victory out at Zama, even though I already knew how it all turned out. Dodge is unabashed and unapologetic in his admiration of Hannibal, and that is okay by me. My only real complaints about the book are (1) that Dodge spends no time laying out the political system of Rome (admittedly, this is not what he set out to do in writing the book, but it would have been helpful in understanding developments) and (2) Dodge includes several quotations from Napoleon and other french commentators in the original French, and the authors have offered no translation. I cannot wait to read other books by this author.
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Summary: Dodge is great, and so was Hannibal
Review: I bought Hannibal because I was interested in learning more about him, and the Dodge book was the cheapest on the subject to be found at my local book store. I have since come to admire Dodge greatly, and have read many more of his books as a result. Dodge is a first rate historian who draws from all available historical sources to paint an even-handed picture of one of the greatest generals to ever walk the earth. He visited every battle site and pored over the terrain, attempting to reconcile inconsistencies. The Hannibal that dodge paints may be the best general ever, and if not, is second only to Alexander. In an accessible style Dodge shows us this great Captain's work, and I found it as compelling as the best of novels. Though I started with this book, I would recommend the reader begine with Alexander and move sequentially through Dodge's "History of the Art of War" series, which goes, Alexander, Hannibal, Ceasar, Gustavus Adolphus, Frederick, Napoleon. Good luck finding Napoleon, for some reason this is the only one of Dodge's books that has not recently been reprinted, ostensibly because there are so many other good books about that great Captain.
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Summary: Wondeful - well written - knew his stuff
Review: I don't want to repeat the comments below - I'll just say its one of the better history books I've read in the last few years.
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Summary: This is the way history should be written...
Review: I enjoy and trust the historians of the past more than the current(last 50 years). This is one of those times. Dodge does an outstanding job weaving the story of one of the greatest generals of history. He makes a credible case for Hannibal being THE BEST miltary genious of recorded history. I learned more about the Romans and Carthaginians in this book than all the previous books I've read combined. The book was first published in the 1890's and you can tell by the beautiful and intelligent writing. Dodge doesn't feel the need to "dumb down" to the reader like contemporary historians tend to do. My only complaint is that, due to this publish date, the maps and pictures are hand drawn and rudimentary. I will be ordering more books from T.Dodge in the future.
Rating:
Summary: Good Read
Review: I have read several of Dodge's books and enjoy them, including this one, very much. One of the best features of his books is that he includes numerous maps and simple drawings to better show the battles, troops, weapons, etc.
Limited, like all histories of the Punic Wars, in the available source material, in this book Dodge relies heavily on Polybius and Livy (not that he has a choice). However, he also relies heavily on his own military experience and visits to the actual battlefields to present his summary and analysis of the battles, and in this case, of Hannibal's route across the Alps.
My one criticism has been noted by other reviewers--Dodge just LOVES Hannibal. Hannibal is the yardstick by which Dodge measures all other commanders. While this may be justifiable, it seems a bit overdone.
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