20 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Excellent one volume account of the Punic Wars, June 27, 1998
This book by Nigel Bagnall, a Field Marshal in the British Army, is one of the best books I have ever read covering Ancient military history. This book introduced me to the lifes and times of such great leaders as Hamilcar Barca, Hannibal and Scipio Africanus to name a few. The author presents a well researched account of the military struggle between Rome and Carthage and does it so well that the book is a joy to read. The book covers the First Punic War, 264-242 BC, the period between the wars (241 - 218 BC), the Second Punic War, 218 - 201 BC and the third and final Punic War between 149 - 148 BC which saw the destruction of Carthage as a power and as a city! A great book!!!!
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7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A British Historian Recaptures a Pivotal Chapter in Roman History, September 17, 2005
This review is from: The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean (Hardcover)
~The Punic Wars : Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean~ is some really bold historical prose capturing one of the most resounding conflicts in antiquity between the Carthaginians and the Romans, which were a series of three wars between 264 B.C. and 146 B.C. For the first time in United States, Thomas Duanne books has brought British historian Nigel Bagnall's epic history to print in 2005. The Punic Wars forever changed the destiny of Rome and marked their unfettered ascent to becoming an imperial power to be reckoned with. These two Mediterranean peoples stood in enmity one against the other, and their climatic struggle would set the balance of power in favor of Rome for the ages. In the third century before Christ, the great naval power in the world was not Rome but Carthage. The Carthaginians were descendants of the seafaring Semitic race the Phoenicians and their campaign of colonization inevitably brought them into a clash of arms with the Romans who had imperial ambitions of their own. As the Romans solidified their control over the Italian peninsula, Carthage extended their control over North Africa's entire arable coastline. Likewise, when Carthage expanded its colonies to Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily-they sparked a clash with the Romans. Treaties were broken and honor was at stake. The Romans took over Sicily seeking a buffer zone to minimize hit-and-run naval raids on the Italic peninsula. Hamilcar Barca and Hasdrubal sought to create a Carthaginian bastion on the Iberian (i.e. Spain) and its ancillary islands. What is more, the bold gambit of Hannibal is brought to life, as his ambition in Iberia is recaptured with amazing detail. The author meticulously documents Hannibal's painstaking and arduous transalpine march as his men struggled to brave the elements of Gaul, as well as the climatic battle with the Romans. The late British historian and former soldier Nigel Bagnall captures the epic clash of personalities with amazing detail. With the decimation of Carthage's Navy, an account of Rome's brutul subjugation of Carthage and her colonies is captured with astonishing detail. Cato's merciless quip "delenda est Carthago" ("Carthage must be destroyed") surmised the belligerent Roman policy toward their Mediterranean neighbors towards the south. Carthage itself would be utterly vanquished and plowed over with pillars of salt. Bagnall gives life to the ancient historical accounts in a keen narrative history. This book is powerful and yet easy to read. All things considered, it is a really good laymen's history of a pivotal war in the annals of history. Bagnall is possessed of a profound historical acumen that makes this particular book come to life. Though, a cursory understanding of Roman history is probably prerequisite for readers.
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5.0 out of 5 stars
TWO GREAT POWERS, January 31, 2011
This review is from: The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean (Hardcover)
This book was the first of two works by Sir Nigel Bagnall, who had been a field marshal in the British Army to which this book is dedicated. I had reviewed his later work,
The Peloponnesian War: Athens, Sparta, and the Struggle for Greece, a short time ago. I was not a big fan of the other piece of history that this writer produced but I really liked this book. The Punic Wars is an incredible tale of two great civilizations that went on a collision course against each other that would result with one becoming a world power and the other completely annihilated. When writing about each of the three wars Bagnall focuses on one theater at a time, telling each theater's story rather than proceeding in complete chronological order. This helps the book flow better and does not harm the general narrative.
Bagnall starts of by giving the reader a bit of background of the two major civilizations; we know more about the Romans of course because they were not destroyed as thoroughly as they destroyed Carthage. He traces the rise of the two cities from mere cities to the heart of minor empires in the Mediterranean, one a land power and the other a sea power. Both cities have to adapt when they fought each other in the First Punic War. Rome would create a navy that would overtake Carthage, and Carthage would also learn how to use its natural military advantages such as trained elephants and a diverse Mercenary army composed of its subject peoples.
The Second Punic War focuses on the great general, Hannibal Barca. His training under his father, Hamilcar, and his rise in Spain are covered. Hannibal crosses the Alps and, for years, ravages Italy and nearly destroys Rome. The famous Fabius Maximus creates what is known as the `Fabian Strategy` in order to defend against Hanibal, that is do not fight him directly only indirectly by cutting supply lines and forms of harassment. The book covers how Rome had a hard time sticking to this strategy until the rise of Publius Cornelius Scipio Africanus who would ultimately beat Hannibal.
"On taking up his appointment, Scipio faced the task of welding a disparate lot into a cohesive fighting force: there were the dispirited survivors of the defeated legions, the raw reinforcements fresh out of Italy, and Spanish mercenaries of uncertain loyalty. No light task for a young man, especially one whose close relation had so intimately associated with disasters. But Publius Cornelius Scipio (later given the cognomen Africanus) was remarkable. As Polybius says, he was `perhaps the most illustrious man of any born before the present generation', and one of his first acts was to show his trust in Marcellus, the man who had striven so hard to rally the survivors of the two Scipios' shattered army, but who could now well be regarded as an awkward rival." p.206
The Third Punic War would be the end of mighty Carthage. The city would be defeated, raised, and destroyed by Scipio's grandson. The impact of Carthage, fulfilling the dream of Cato the Elder, would be erased even though another one of Scipio's own grandsons would try to argue against it.
"He pleaded that though Rome's position as the dominant power should be preserved, Carthage should not be destroyed as a rival. Were this to occur, there would be no check on Rome's arrogant disregard for the legitimate interests and the concerns of smaller states. She would lose all sense of shame when there was nobody of stature to pass judgment on her conduct and stand up for the rights of others. Moreover, in the absence of any external threat, the Roman Confederation would be in danger of disintegrating as fractious political and social groups pursued their own self-interested ends." p.307
I highly recommend this book to anyone. It is a thrilling read involving one of the greatest struggles in the history of the world: Rome and Carthage. Not until the Cold War would the world see another quite like it. This work of Nigel Bagnall was much stronger than his later work on the Peloponnesian War; however I leave open the possibility that the reason for his Punic Wars being easier to understand maybe due to the fact the the Punic Wars are an easier conflict to understand compared to the Peloponnesian War.
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