“Masterly. . . . First-rate historical fiction.”

This epic retelling of the legendary Carthaginian military leader’s  assault on the Roman empire begins in Ancient Spain, where Hannibal  Barca sets out with tens of thousands of soldiers and 30 elephants.  

After conquering the Roman city of Saguntum, Hannibal wages his campaign  through the outposts of the empire, shrewdly befriending peoples  disillusioned by Rome and, with dazzling tactics, outwitting the  opponents who believe the land route he has chosen is impossible. Hannibal’s armies must take brutal losses as they pass through the  Pyrenees mountains, forge the Rhone river, and make a winter crossing of  the Alps before descending to the great tests at Cannae and Rome  itself.

David Anthony Durham draws a brilliant and complex Hannibal out of the  scant historical record–sharp, sure-footed, as nimble among rivals as on  the battlefield, yet one who misses his family and longs to see his son  grow to manhood. Whether portraying the deliberations of a general or  the calculations of a common soldier, vast multilayered scenes of battle  or moments of introspection when loss seems imminent, Durham brings  history alive.