Mills Clifford W. Hannibal

Chelsea House Publishers, 2008. — 120 p. — (Ancient World Leaders).Mills's informative biography starts with Hannibal preparing to attack the Romans and then goes back in time to explain the founding of Carthage and the history of its conflict with Rome, mainly focusing on the Second Punic War and the subject's journey and battles during that time. In a slight shift of focus, the author also explains simultaneous events in Rome, though they are detailed from the perspective of Hannibal's side, a rarity. Frequent inserts add extra information such as details of Carthaginian gods, ancient poisons, and different parts of the military, without distracting readers from the narrative. Colorful reproductions are also interspersed throughout. Mills notes whenever historians do not agree on a point or when an account of an event is speculative. He takes some liberties with setting scenes and speculating on Hannibal's thoughts, but this does not take away from the overall accuracy of the book. The clear, descriptive writing, map of Hannibal's route to Rome, detailed index, and other back matter make this volume useful to those doing reports on either the military leader or the Punic Wars.