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    The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
    The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
    The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
    Audiobook13 hours

    The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic

    Written by Robert L. O'Connell

    Narrated by Alan Sklar

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Hannibal's battle plan at Cannae became the mother of all great battle strategies-the first battle of encirclement that has been imitated (often to disastrous effect) endlessly over the past two thousand years. In this brilliant, long-overdue, and beautifully written account, Robert L. O'Connell gives listeners an epic account of one of the most dramatic battles of antiquity. The Ghosts of Cannae is at once a book about a specific battle (the massive defeat of a huge but inexperienced Roman army in southern Italy by Hannibal in 216 BC) but also an interpretation of the larger course of the Second Punic War, as well as an assessment of the historical impact of Rome's storied rivalry with Carthage. What ties the book together is the fate of the survivors, their treatment by the authorities in Rome, and ultimately their vindication nearly two decades later, when they defeated Hannibal at the decisive battle of Zama in North Africa. With an unforgettable cast of heroes and villains, The Ghosts of Cannae is history at its finest.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJul 20, 2010
    ISBN9781400187225
    The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic
    Author

    Robert L. O'Connell

    Robert L. O'Connell received a PhD in history at the University of Virginia and spent three decades as a senior analyst at the National Ground Intelligence Center, followed by fourteen years as a visiting professor at the Naval Postgraduate School. He is the author of numerous books, two of which, The Ghosts of Cannae: Hannibal and the Darkest Hour of the Roman Republic and Fierce Patriot: The Tangled Lives of William Tecumseh Sherman, were national bestsellers, the latter winning the 2015 William H. Seward Award for Excellence in Civil War Biography. He lives with his wife, Benjie, in Charlottesville, Virginia.

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    Reviews for The Ghosts of Cannae

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      bookshelves: history, ancient-history, roman-civilisation, winter-20132014, under-1000-ratings, tbr-busting-2014, war, tunisia, published-2010, newtome-author, italy, fraudioRead from October 20, 2013 to January 19, 2014Blurberoonies: Other battles are perhaps just as famous as Thermopylae, Waterloo, Gettysburg, but the aura of Cannae, where Hannibal obliterated the largest army the Roman Republic had ever put into the field, is unmatched. The battle is unparalleled for its carnage, with more men from a single army killed on that one day, Aug. 2, 216 B.C., than on any other day on any other European battlefield: something like 50,000 Romans died, two and a half times the number of British soldiers who fell on the first day of the Somme.Pure Military History, so this is a tacticians wet dream. The strategies on display at Cannae have been emulated down the ages.
    • 4/5
      I loved all the jabs the author took on the usefulness of elephants in battle.
    • 5/5
      Outstanding military history—the geopolitical context and strategy and the actual experience of march and battle. Theme: An unsupported, family army that won most of the battles, except for the last one, versus a citizen army, that won the war.
    • 3/5
      Threading a careful line between academic battles the author gives a modern take on the Battle of Cannae. The initial chapters detailing the Roman and Carthaginian republics can be a bit of a slog but are essential to understanding what follows. Once into Hannibal’s campaign as the story progresses more rapidly, with clarity and dry humour, it is a pleasure to read. Whilst mentioning the controversies regarding the route through the Alps, the battle itself and its aftermath, the author consciously or not has appeared to follow the principle of "inherent military probability" propounded by Alfred H Burne. All in all a very approachable and enjoyable study of an ancient battle that rightly or wrongly has obsessed military minds for centuries.
    • 3/5
      It's too long
    • 4/5
      The Ghosts of Cannae details Rome and Hannibal's battle of Cannae, August 2nd, 216 BCE, and the rest of the Second Punic War. This war was brought upon by Hannibal Barca's child-hood desire to watch Rome burn, passed down from his father's personal vendetta. Many are familiar with Hannibal - the Anti-Roman - and his exploits during the Second Punic War - specifically (and most amazingly) marching an army, with elephants, over the Alps to attack Rome. So strong was his strategy and army, even though numerically out-classed, that he spent nearly 16 years on Italian soil without any major defeat. The Second Punic War can be considered "the first world war", in that it had players from Africa, Spain, Italy, Asia Minor and practically any place around the Mediterranean. Most intriguing, the only losses to Rome were on Italian soil; throughout the Roman army's time in Spain, Sicily, Sardinia and Africa, they had no problem fighting the Carthaginians. The reason is simple: Hannibal. Robert O'Connell's book is laid out very simply, with the first few chapters dedicated to leading up to and explaining the major players of the war - Rome and Hannibal/Carthage. The remainder of the book details the Battle of Cannae and its repercussions, how the war dwindled down and ended, and how Hannibal's actions lead to the eventual downfall of the Roman Republic. O'Connell bases the title and ending of the book on the "legiones Cannenses" - the unfairly exiled "Ghosts of Cannae", and how they were able to redeem themselves. The final parts of the book include O'Connell's thoughts on modern scholars' views of the war, as well as the military significance of the battle. Interestingly, the Battle of Cannae has almost been non-existent throughout history until the early 20th century. O'Connell offers great insight into and a very readable account of the Second Punic War. His writing his fluid and moves very quickly. Rather than a reference book for the War, The Ghosts of Cannae offers the reader a fast-paced general overview of the Second Punic War, with the emphasis on the Battle of Cannae. O'Connell also makes a point to analyze and explain how some of the sources must be read against the grain - specifically Livy. This offers the budding, new or part-time historian a glimpse into how and why historians critically analyze documents. For those that have read histories of the period from Goldsworthy, Daly, Lancel, or Lazenby, much of the information seems to be re-hashed and re-compiled, and may seem repetitive. For those who have not read the previous scholars, this is a very interesting read about some of the most interesting characters in Roman history.
    • 4/5
      This book tells the story of Hannibal's life and of the second Punic War. It is sprightily written and the research evideneced is impressive. Cannae was fought 2 Aug 216 B.C. The events leading up to it are given in detail and I thought some of the account was dry, except for the crossing of the Alps. The time after Cannae is somewhat doleful for a guy like me who as a youth always was "for" Hannibal, I suppose because his side was the "underdog" and Hannibal is an impressive character.
    • 4/5
      An entertaining popular study of the wars between Carthage and Rome, with particular emphasis on the impact of the great Carthaginian leader Hannibal. While I detect no real problems with the book, the fact is that O'Connell leans heavily on the work of Adrian Goldsworthy and J.F. Lazenby, so if you have already read their studies of the Punic Wars you'll probably find O'Connell a bit redundant.
    • 5/5
      As an avid fan of Republican Roman history, I've read various accounts of Hannibal and the 2nd Punic War (including its most famous battle, Cannae). As such, I was hesitant to embark on another book on the subject. Fortunately, I did so.Despite its title, the book covers far more ground than simply the "ghosts" of the famous battle, i.e., the surviving Roman legionnaires. With great style and clarity, the author describes both the pertinent history of both Rome and Carthage, as well as the major developments, personalities and battles throughout the 17 year campaign and beyond.If there is one book you want to read on this period, The Ghosts of Cannae is it. Highly recommended.