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Hannibal Crosses the Alps: The Invasion of Italy and the Second Punic War Paperback – September 1, 2001

by John Prevas (Author)
4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 125 ratings
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When he left his Spanish base one spring day in 218 B.C. with his 100,000-man army of mercenaries, officers, and elephants, Hannibal was launching not just the main offensive of the Second Punic War but also one of the great military journeys in ancient history. His masterful advance through rough terrain and fierce Celtic tribes proved his worth as a leader, but it was his extraordinary passage through the Alps—still considered treacherous even by modern climbers—that made him a legend. John Prevas combines rigorous research of ancient sources with his own excursions through the icy peaks to bring to life this awesome trek, solving the centuries-old question of Hannibal's exact route and shedding fresh light on the cultures of Rome and Carthage along the way. Here is the finest kind of history, sure to appeal to readers of Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire: alive with grand strategy, the clash of empires, fabulous courage, and the towering figure of Hannibal Barca.
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  1. Print length
    256 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publication date
    September 1, 2001
  4. Dimensions
    6 x 0.65 x 9 inches
  5. ISBN-10
    9780306810701
  6. ISBN-13
    978-0306810701
  7. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

John Prevas is a New York Times bestselling author whose first book, Hannibal Crosses the Alps, ignited the debate among academics over which pass Hannibal used -- a debate which continues today. He has been featured in a documentary about Hannibal filmed in the Alps by the BBC and has spoken on Hannibal as a leadership figure to United Nations ambassadors, the Smithsonian Institute, the Hoover Institute at Stanford University, the National Archaeological Museum in Athens, and at Forbes CEO conferences. Prevas has appeared on the History Channel, CNN, CNN International, NPR, C-Span's Book TV, and Fox Television.

Product details

  • ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0306810700
  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Da Capo Press; First PB Edition, First Printing (September 1, 2001)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 256 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780306810701
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0306810701
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 12.9 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 0.65 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.1 4.1 out of 5 stars 125 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.1 out of 5 stars
4.1 out of 5
125 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

D Charlot
5.0 out of 5 stars Be the intern
Reviewed in the United States on March 16, 2017
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Terrific, well-researched book. History comes alive. The author does a nice job deducing the most probable route of Hannibal through the alps.

What I particularly appreciated was the effort of Prevas to walk you through his analysis. You become the historian too, if only briefly, as if you are the intern bringing him coffee and seeing (whiteboard!) and hearing his deductions...what he concludes, caveats, and alternative scenarios. Great summary of Punic Wars, military tactics, etc.

Really enjoyed.
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ChrisR
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting and a good read
Reviewed in the United States on July 11, 2017
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Really enjoyed this book. Wish there were better map illustrations to guide you so you could follow the journey/ story better.
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P. Houston
3.0 out of 5 stars Good story in need of an editor
Reviewed in the United States on May 7, 2010
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I didn't know much about Hannibal before I read this book, other than he was from Carthage, and he marched some elephants across the alps to sack Rome (turns out I was wrong about that last detail, since he never actually attacked the city of Rome). So I decided it was high time I find out more about him.
Overall Prevas does a ok job in his brief study of Hannibal's trek from Spain to Italy, but I kept wishing he'd had a better editor. I was particularly dismayed when I came across factual errors, or confusing and contradictory passages. An example of factual mistakes crops up in the section when Prevas discusses the elephants that Hannibal used, where he states that African Elephants are smaller than the Indian Elephants, when the opposite is true. In the same chapter he also contradicts himself about where the Egyptian pharaohs got their elephants, at one point saying it was from the Atlas mountains, then later saying it was from Syria. I was also confused about how many elephants survived the trek across the alps: at one stage he talks about people having found elephant skulls in the alps, at another he says not a single elephant perished on the crossing - so which is correct?
The trouble with this sort of sloppiness, it it then makes me question how accurate the rest of the details in the book are. It could be that Prevas just gets mixed up about elephants, and everything else was correct, but once I come across a few errors like this, it makes me feel like I have to fact check the whole book.
I also didn't care for the bucket loads of geographical detail he gets in to trying to make his case for what he thinks was Hannibal's exact route across the alps. I know this was one of the main objectives of this book, and so I guess I can't fault him for it, but I found the surfeit of detail on this topic to be dry and boring.
3 people found this helpful
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James R. Holland
5.0 out of 5 stars Hannibal Is At The Gates
Reviewed in the United States on July 26, 2009
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After two different decisive battlefield victories, Hannibal was in a position to move on a panicked, and practically defenseless Rome and destroy it. He decided to wait. When he finally did decide to attack the capital city of the Roman Empire, he found the city so well defended that he turned away within sight of the gates and returned to plundering the Italian Countryside. Even years after Hannibal was dead, the mothers in Rome would whisper to their naughty children that they had better behave because "Hannibal was at the gates." This terrifying thought cowed even the most impish, mischievous child. The same idea had terrified the Romans of all ages two times before when they thought Hannibal was indeed on the way to rape, plunder and murder everyone in the city.
Hannibal was a great leader by anyone's measurement. In fact I only became aware of this book from reading and reviewing Steve Forbes and John Prevas's excellent new book, "Power, Ambition Glory," which is a book about some of the greatest leaders in Western History. It was so readable and interesting that I ordered this book and I certainly wasn't disappointed. The book starts out with an introduction to Carthage and it's civilization, which was at its zenith when Rome was still organizing within the boot of Italy. Carthage was located just across the Mediterranean Sea from Sicily, the toe of the boot to be more exact. It was situated on the North African coast near what we now call Tunis at a place where the channel connecting the Mediterranean is less than 300 miles wide. All shipping from the west end of the sea to the east end had to pass between the toe of Sicily, which Carthage also controlled and Carthage itself. It built a navy that could control all of the ancient Mediterranean and the ancient city became incredibly wealthy.
For those people who don't care much for Roman History, if the Romans had not won the 100-year Punic War, the world today would indeed be much different and the Carthaginians were in many ways more brutal than the Romans. The Romans didn't crucify their own Generals and Admiral's, all of whom were elected to office by the senate and were fellow aristocrats, because they lost a single battle. The Romans did not sacrifice infant children to "the lord of the furnaces" the God Baal, which is the God Hannibal was named after. Infanticide consumed thousands of live infants in the burning furnaces of Baal.
After introducing the reader to the basic historical facts of the rise and fall of Carthage, the author concentrates on Hannibal's career. His father successfully transferred his own hate of the Romans to his sons, especially Hannibal The most exciting part of the Hannibal's life was his daring crossing of the Alps from Spain where he surprised, defeated and plundered the Romans for 12 years. After losing some of the biggest battles in Ancient History including one where Hannibal killed 50,000 legionnaires while only losing about 1,200 of his own men, the Romans decided to shadow Hannibal and his army of mercenaries but not to engage him in battle.
Hannibal's crossing of the Alps was not as easy or successful as it should have been because he didn't have trustworthy guides to show him the way. He was ambushed twice in narrow gorges where the locals had purposely led him. His troops had to transverse narrow ledges above deep canyons while savage Celtic tribesmen rained boulders and arrows down of his helpless troops and their terrified pack animals. Half his army died on the trek, but miraculously, all his war elephants survived the journey. Not long ago I read and reviewed "The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride" by Daniel James Brown. There were many similar experiences to the two books. In both cases the parties were misdirected and ended up missing the easier passes through the mountains and ending up having to travel the most difficult and costly routes in bitter weather. The chief difference was that much of the Donner Party was children and they didn't have enemies dropping rocks on their heads as they crawled and climbed through the mazes of sheer canyons in the snow and ice. John Prevas makes Hannibal's historic feat come alive for the reader. If you like reading about history in the making, this tale will amaze you. The descriptions of the battles are as if the reader is hovering in an invisible time capsule above the raging battlefield reading the thoughts of the generals and their soldiers below.
In addition, the author spent several summer's hiking through the various routes that Hannibal and his army might have taken. Comparing his own observations and photographs to the historical texts, he concludes which route had to indeed be the one Hannibal and his army transversed. None of the others matched the historical data.
Hannibal lived to be an old soldier of 64, which in itself is amazing since he was always in the heart of one battle or another and was often wounded. What happened to Hannibal and Carthage is also related. There is a surprise ending to the story in the last couple of sentences of the book. It's something that most people aren't aware of and something that illustrates the superior instincts of one of Rome's own great generals, Julius Caesar. This is a page-turner once the reader gets through the book's necessary introduction and into the personal story of Hannibal. This reviewer loved it.
4 people found this helpful
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flyerslover
4.0 out of 5 stars needs more maps..
Reviewed in the United States on July 6, 2013
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This was a fascinating first hand account of a scholar who traced the various routes that Hannibal may have taken over the Alps on his way from Spain to Italy to try to conquer that area. However, the author discusses many towns and Alps routes that are not readily knowledgeable to the reader, and it is essential to plot these place names on maps, which alas are not included but are required for the discussion. Otherwise, a very thorough and documented assessment of Hannibal's journey. MORE MAPS PLEASE!!!!
2 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

STEVE CHAPPELL
2.0 out of 5 stars Two Stars
Reviewed in Canada on July 18, 2015
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Very repetitive and ploddy
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