The Punic Wars: A Captivating Guide to the First, Second, and Third Punic Wars Between Rome and Carthage, Including the Rise and Fall of Hannibal Barca (Ancient Military History)

I like this book because it is a concise, quick history of the Punic Wars. I have another book written by Livy that is long and hard to read because of the details. Ancient history; unless you are doing a Master's or Doctorate can be summarized. This book does a great job of it.

I think the author did a great job of simplifying one of the most exciting periods in the history of Ancient Rome. It’s simply written in everyday, as opposed to academic, language, so it’s a great starting point for anyone looking to learn about this, or about Rome in generalMy one issue is that the language/writing of the book could have used a bit more tightening at certain points. For instance, the author speaks of the Babylonian empire and the Persian empire as if they were the same thing. I don’t think it was deliberate, but the language didn’t make clear that these were in fact different entities. Something like this also happens regarding the allegiance of the Numidians in the latter portion of the second Punic war. The author didn’t explain that there were rival factions among the Numidians, and so at some point there were Numidians on each side. It made the description of the one the key battles a little bit confusingBesides this, it’s a fantastic book, and I give it 4 stars instead of 5, just for this little hiccup

Not much commentary. It is a diary of each and every battle of the three Punic wars. Easy to read and some facts were very interesting especially concerning weaponry.

Shipped quickly and exactly as expected.

An excellent overview of the war that began Rome's march to becoming an empire and the majority of the book focused on the battles of all three wars.The Punic Wars were a series of three wars, with various battles in varying locations, fought between Rome and Carthage (Phoenicians) from 264 BC to 146 BC. At the time, they were some of the largest wars that had ever taken place. They wars were waged against an economic competitor of Rome across the Mediterranean Sea, Carthage.Nevertheless, the events in this book have been separated in chronological order, of the wars. The author did an excellent job of clearly describing these conflicts, including the history and of the Phoenicians and Carthage in chapter one, describing the people of Carthage and their affairs genuineI would highly recommend this book to anyone who wants to take their very first steps in learning about the Punic Wars; this will only whet your appetite for more research.However, for those of us with some scholar historical knowledge of the wars would probably find this book very basic, due to a lack of available archaeology and the references stated are from the Encyclopedias Britannica mostly. I have the complete original set and other reference books on the historical subject.Bottom line: is this book is well written, the useful information related to the reader. If the Punic Wars are not your primary study, but closely involved with your studies of Rome, the Mediterranean, ancient history, the fall of Carthage, or other related areas. It will certainly be a catalyst for more research into this fascinating period of world history.The History Professor

Good to know the fact that Carthage was thriving while a fledgling Rome was emerging. The Romans can thank the Carthaginians for prodding them into building an army and navy and to battle test them against each other all those years. The author did about as good as a job as possible trudging through each battle of all three of the Punic wars. Some good insight into the strategies of ancient warfare. Overall, a good overview of the history.

This book presents a very good overview of an ancient rivalry. Carthage was a major power more so than Rome at the beginning. Rome saw a need to develop a military that could rival Carthage’s military might .We see all the major military leaders & wars in this read .Captivating History again had added new literature to this time period in World History.

Found out quite a bit about an era in history that I had little knowledge. But a few maps would have been a great help. Unless you know the names and places in ancient Italy you are going to have trouble following the action in the wars. Get a map of the area if you plan to follow the battles.