The Punic Wars: Rome, Carthage, and the Struggle for the Mediterranean by Nigel Bagnall

I really enjoyed this very informative account of a conflict which helped to shape the world as we know it. The detail of the strategy (or lack of) pursued by Rome and Carthage is quite impressive. Bagnall also treats us to some excellent descriptions of the battles, particularly those in the second Punic war. Hannibal is of course a world famous figure but I am now much more able to appreciate how great Scipio Africanus was. If there is one criticism that I must make it is that there really isn’t enough description of the characters of the men involved. I realise that this is quite difficult with history as old as this but Bagnall only really allows himself to speculate on character in his epilogue (and then only by comparing Scipio Africanus and Hannibal). Non the less I’m happy I read this book and recommend it to anyone interested in Roman history.