4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Not the worst book I've ever read but a close second., March 18, 1999
By A Customer
The dialog is cartoonish. As a screen play it would probably be okay. As a book for anyone older than 10 it isn't worth the trouble. I had hopes of using this book for instruction about the punic wars. Now, I'm using it as an illustration on how not to write. Or," How could he have said this better." Sorry....its just awful
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1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
Thankfully, I did not have to buy it..., July 19, 2011
Just bought a Kindle 3 (a wonderful device) and recognized this title when I was looking to download books on Roman history. I'm writing this review as a warning to those who might think about purchasing the $7.99 download. One of my sisters, who was involved in publishing, gave me a hardcover copy of the book about 15 years ago, so, thankfully, I did not have to buy it.
The original 1994 book was self-published by Joseph Peebles and the "The Peebco Publishing House." I was immediately drawn to this description of the author on the dust jacket: "In an era where grunge is the fashion and foul language is the lingo, there comes a writer whose style and sophistication is as debonaire as his personal appearance." No...I kid you not, and the bombast continues on the back, where Peebles is described as one of the "new turn-of-the-century writers who broke away from the tradition in literature and is producing new and vital material... ."
The book itself can probably be finished by a good reader in 2-3 hours, and the writing style is simplistic, to put it mildly. There are also strange historical inconsistencies, such as when the "Caracella (sic) bath house" is mentioned, even though the Baths of Caracalla were not built until over 400 years later, or when the narration mentions "On the playing field where the Roman Coliseum would later be built... ." He calls Fabius, the Roman dictator, "emperor," even though there was no Roman Emperor at the time, and in closing his "novel," goes from Hannibal's 15 years on Italy, which ended in 203 (when he was called back to defend Carthage against Scipio Africanus), to the end of the 2nd Punic War, without even mentioning the Battle of Zama, where Hannibal was defeated by Scipio!
In his confused introduction, Mr. Peebles seems to be interested in showing the importance of African contributions in the ancient world and during the Middle Ages and Renaissance, actually saying that Hannibal "was indeed instrumental in bringing forth the Euro-Renaissance." He also, in passing, says that the culture of ancient Rome received a cultural boost from its conquest of Carthage, and would not have been the same without it. The intro to the book makes me think that the author had certain political or cultural reasons for writing the book, and was not worried about letting historical facts get in the way of what he wanted to write.
I also have to question the 5 star reviews which were give certain by certain "reviewers." For me, this book is the literary equivalent of "Plan 9 From Outer Space," in that it makes you laugh, not because the writer wants to make you laugh, but because it is so bad, and you realize the writer wants you to take the book seriously.
I would tell you to wait until the $7.99 becomes $.99, and then buy this book for a chuckle, but you won't get the original book's egotistical dust jacket, which is probably worth more than the prose it surrounds.
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