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Rating: 
Summary: Convincing evidence
Review: John Prevas has done some very fine research here and should be commended for giving so much evidence to his theory on the path that Hannibal took over the Alps. However, he continuously repeats himself many times in the book and this made it sometimes difficult to get through. All in all a very convincing theory of Hannibals pass over the Alps. Until a body or some other hard physical evidence is found that proves without a doubt where Hannibal actually crossed the Alps, I will stick with Mr. Prevas and his theory. Highly recommend the book for students of military history who do not want a whole lot of excitement with their reading, you will not find much action here. If you want action, read Caesers Commentaries. I give 4 stars for the amount of time and personal sacrifice that Mr. Prevas put into the work by going to the locations through a number of years of research and on site camping, must have been exciting to be where Hannibal had been.Not a bad book but often times dry and unexciting.
Rating:
Summary: Convincing evidence
Review: Never have so many books sprung from such meager sources. The exploits of Hannibal come to us from 1000-year-old translations of 2000-year-old lost manuscripts, Polybius and Livy being the main waterbearers here and highly recommended. I've been studying Hannibal for the past year now and have read dozens of books. This book by John Prevas is a worthy effort but feels flawed in many respects. Frankly, I felt that Mr. Prevas never let the facts stand in the way of a good story and took far too many liberties. For example, he frequently tries to tell us what Hannibal was thinking and how he felt at each juncture of the crossing when we don't even know what Hannibal looked like! There were many times when his summaries of the history leading up to the crossing varied from many of the other sources I've read. Who should I trust? However, the heart of the book is the actual crossing of the alps and the route that Hannibal took. This section was excellent and backed up by five years of Mr. Prevas hiking in the alps and 8-10 pages of photos proving that Hannibal's route did NOT follow the Isere River, as most historians and books allege, but began on the Drome River and continued up the Durance toward the gorge where the second ambush by the Gauls occurred. This section felt authentic, for me, made the book well worth purchasing. So, I recommend this book... as long as you also grab a copy of Lancel's Hannibal and Polybius and Livy. All three are good reads.
Rating: 
Summary: Hannibal's Route Revealed... at last
Review: Never have so many books sprung from such meager sources. The exploits of Hannibal come to us from 1000-year-old translations of 2000-year-old lost manuscripts, Polybius and Livy being the main waterbearers here and highly recommended. I've been studying Hannibal for the past year now and have read dozens of books. This book by John Prevas is a worthy effort but feels flawed in many respects. Frankly, I felt that Mr. Prevas never let the facts stand in the way of a good story and took far too many liberties. For example, he frequently tries to tell us what Hannibal was thinking and how he felt at each juncture of the crossing when we don't even know what Hannibal looked like! There were many times when his summaries of the history leading up to the crossing varied from many of the other sources I've read. Who should I trust? However, the heart of the book is the actual crossing of the alps and the route that Hannibal took. This section was excellent and backed up by five years of Mr. Prevas hiking in the alps and 8-10 pages of photos proving that Hannibal's route did NOT follow the Isere River, as most historians and books allege, but began on the Drome River and continued up the Durance toward the gorge where the second ambush by the Gauls occurred. This section felt authentic, for me, made the book well worth purchasing. So, I recommend this book... as long as you also grab a copy of Lancel's Hannibal and Polybius and Livy. All three are good reads.
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