Hannibal: Carthage Series, Book 1 (Carthage Trilogy 1)
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"* 'A tremendous story told with great verve and gusto. Compelling and convincing, this is a truly remarkable novel in the class of I, Claudius.' - Allan Massie * 'In Leckie's descriptions it's possible to smell the stench of sweat and fear, hear the roars of warhorses and elephants, see the blood-stained armour. Informative and utterly compelling.' - The Times * 'Its triumph is to bring the world of Carthage to life again.' - James Michie, Spectator"
The Times
... it's possible to smell the stench of sweat and fear, hear the roars... see the blood-stained armour. Informative and utterly compelling.
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First Sentence
Children's memories are deep and strange. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
Children's memories are deep and strange. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
10 of 11 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book may not have the most sparkling of dialogue, the author's writing may be weak in some places and according to some people in the know, may be historically inaccurate, but it was one of the most entertaining texts I've read this year. Having known nothing about Hannibal apart from he had something to do with elephants and the Alps, I picked this up because it was on offer and I needed something to read whilst on excercise with the Territorial Army in Cyprus. In the end I had my nose buried in it while I should have been sleeping or eating, something unheard of for a squaddie! I'm off to get the other two parts of the trilogy now.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Ross Leckie's novel on Hannibal's life is perhaps not the most shining example of the historical novel breed. It is written from the perspective of Hannibal as an old man, recounting his life from childhood, his time in Spain, his Italian campaign and a brief summary of the battle of Zama and his later life.
Given that little is known about the man himself and his private life, Leckie had a practically blank canvass to work with. Some of the choices he made in this respect will raise the eyebrows of people familiar with the period and do not work particularly well in my opinion. In terms of sources he uses the usual Roman suspects on the life of Hannibal, so the main points are OKish historically (the Trebia battle was not presented well, though), it is the embelishments that grate.
In addition be forewarned that graphic violence often takes precedence over historical detail, so it is more akin to what a book version of 300 [2007] [DVD] could look like. Whether this is a problem, will prpobably primarily depend on the reader but I personally did miss detail on the more historical aspects (describing the battle of Cannae in one page was a bit on the thin side, really).
In my opinion, unless you want an easy pulp style read for the beach and violence floats your boat, you will be better served by pretty much any other book on Hannibal.
Given that little is known about the man himself and his private life, Leckie had a practically blank canvass to work with. Some of the choices he made in this respect will raise the eyebrows of people familiar with the period and do not work particularly well in my opinion. In terms of sources he uses the usual Roman suspects on the life of Hannibal, so the main points are OKish historically (the Trebia battle was not presented well, though), it is the embelishments that grate.
In addition be forewarned that graphic violence often takes precedence over historical detail, so it is more akin to what a book version of 300 [2007] [DVD] could look like. Whether this is a problem, will prpobably primarily depend on the reader but I personally did miss detail on the more historical aspects (describing the battle of Cannae in one page was a bit on the thin side, really).
In my opinion, unless you want an easy pulp style read for the beach and violence floats your boat, you will be better served by pretty much any other book on Hannibal.
10 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This is a nasty book. If you're expecting to read about Hannibal the famous general, Hannibal who crossed the Alps and gave the Romans the thrashing they deserved, forget it. This is Hannibal the man, one who doesn't care how many die in his pursuit of the revenge-wish he inherited from his father. He takes his wife and newborn baby through the alpine ice and snow, and then butchers some Roman women because the baby dies (the death is the Romans' fault--parse that one if you can).
Of course, there's also his good side--after his wife is brutally raped and killed by the Romans, he forbids his troops to rape. If you're thinking he's a mess of contradictions, then yes, he is--and it's not helped by the first person narrative giving the illusion of an insight into his motivations and character that isn't really there. Sometimes, Hannibal, who's writing this narrative as an old man in the expectation of imminent capture, feels the need to justify his actions. Othertimes, even such insufficient justification is lacking. The book would probably have worked better in third person, or with a different narrator, as it isn't able to get under Hannibal's skin and explain how his mind works.
At certain points in this book, I had to stop reading because what was portrayed was so viciously and needlessly cruel. In fiction it would be bad enough; in a novel based on true events, it's unbearable.
The book's well written, evokes the violence convincingly, is crammed with period detail, and has elephants. Excellent for those with strong stomachs. Not so good for sensitive souls.
Of course, there's also his good side--after his wife is brutally raped and killed by the Romans, he forbids his troops to rape. If you're thinking he's a mess of contradictions, then yes, he is--and it's not helped by the first person narrative giving the illusion of an insight into his motivations and character that isn't really there. Sometimes, Hannibal, who's writing this narrative as an old man in the expectation of imminent capture, feels the need to justify his actions. Othertimes, even such insufficient justification is lacking. The book would probably have worked better in third person, or with a different narrator, as it isn't able to get under Hannibal's skin and explain how his mind works.
At certain points in this book, I had to stop reading because what was portrayed was so viciously and needlessly cruel. In fiction it would be bad enough; in a novel based on true events, it's unbearable.
The book's well written, evokes the violence convincingly, is crammed with period detail, and has elephants. Excellent for those with strong stomachs. Not so good for sensitive souls.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Unhistorical and unentertaining
I was astounded by inaccuracies of this novel - though one would hardly notice as Leckie doesn't spend much time on history in any case. Read more
Published on 14 Nov 2008 by Michael A.
immense, huge, heart breaking
what a truly beautiful novel - when i ws younger i read a lot of roman history but never anything in detail about carthage - i picked this up in the local bookshop just out of... Read more
Published on 8 Mar 2008 by D. Mansfield
tedious and gratuitous violence
This purports to be from Hannibal's point of view because it is written as if it were the memoirs of Hannibal himself. It is nothing of the sort. Read more
Published on 21 Jan 2008 by Dejvid
Disappointing
Having read Scipio first, I was hoping that this book might be at least as good. It is, quite simply, too short and fails, because of that, to deliver. Read more
Published on 16 Nov 2007 by Iphidaimos
Carthage and Rome, blood and gore
This book, and its sequel Scipio, are based for the most part in detailed research, but they have been written with a verve and dramatic flair that one rarely encounters in popular... Read more
Published on 21 Jun 2007 by Feanor
First rate historical fiction
Have you ever compiled an imaginary list of historical characters you would like to have had a conversation with? Read more
Published on 14 Jan 2007 by Didier
Hannibal
I enjoyed this book enormously. I am an avid reader and I am always on the look out for a good read. Reading other reviews, their thoughts are very different to mine. Read more
Published on 27 Jun 2003 by Mr. Kevin Hodgers
Awful, awful book.
I'm sorry, but this is an awful book. I've never written such a thing in a review before, but I'm absolutely aghast that this thing ever got in to print. Read more
Published on 4 Sep 2002
Disappointing
Although Mr Leckie seems to have learned a great deal from Mary Renault's 'fire from heaven' the story of Alexander the Great's childhood (compare the stories of their first horse,... Read more
Published on 3 Sep 2002
Totally engrossing
I was encouraged to read this book after having read 'Republican Rome' by H.L Havell. This latter introduced me to the Punic wars and Rome's conflict with Hannibal. Read more
Published on 8 April 2001
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