The Warmaker

Hannibal's invasion of Italia in 218 BC was one of the boldest mountain military operations of the Second Punic War if not the entire ancient world. A master of warfare he remains an enigmatic figure known mainly from descriptions written by his adversaries.</P><P>In this unique work of fiction Hannibal a Carthaginian member of a North African banking family and the son of a famous general is accurately depicted as a strong leader who spent his entire life fighting the Romans. His restless investigative mind along with a deep love and appreciation of Greek culture was nurtured into the Carthaginian war machine by his father and brother-in-law. Hannibal was elected Commander-in-Chief of the Carthaginian Army by the troops in 221.</P><P>In late spring 218 his army of 65000 men and 37 elephants left Cartagena in Spain subdued tribes on the fringes of the Pyr��n��es Mountains crossed southern Gaul into the Rh��ne Basin and marched across the Alps into Italia. <I>The Warmaker: Hannibal's Invasion of Italia and the Aftermath</I> provides a fictional account of the war master and what could likely have happened following his military success in Italia had he decided to conquer Rome.</P>