The Punic Wars - Hardcover

Bagnall, Nigel

3.87

124 ratings by Goodreads

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0091744210 ISBN 13: 9780091744212

Publisher: Hutchinson, 1991

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The Punic Wars were waged between the military confederation of Rome and the trading empire of Carthage during the years 264-242 BC, 218-201 BC and 149-8 BC, and left Rome's population radically depleted and Carthage razed from the map. Nigel Bagnall's experience enables him to bring a professional eye to his analysis of the Wars and to show how relevant they are to contemporary world. He marshals authorities such as Livy, Polybius and Dioderus to plot the campaigns in Spain, Africa, Sicily and the Pelopponese, and Hannibal's daring but unsuccessful strike into the heart of Italy. Bagnall discusses the force structures and politics of the two powers, and their conduct of battle at strategic, operational and tactical levels to show how they are governed by military principles that remain constant. His thought-provoking final chapter relates the lessons of the Punic Wars to modern times in an impressive argument for adapting the experience of the past to the needs of our future.

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Review:

A serious and well-informed book on the wars between Rome and Carthage...it is, however, not simply a piece of disinterested research but a tale with a moral for current politics...On the interplay of strategic and operational decisions, on the risks of politics in time of war, on the importance of morale: this book gives much food for reflection Spectator His book is to be commended...It is a fine piece of military and political history...a clear and convincing account of what happened, devoid of any high-flown romanticism...He constructs his analysis in such a way as to demonstrate that what happened...might just happen again Economist A modern Field-Marshal applies his strategic expertise to the greatest confrontation of classical times... Bagnall's analysis is leavened with character sketches and dry humour Independent

About the Author:

Sir Nigel Bagnall was born in India in 1927. He joined the British Army in 1945 and served in Palestine, Malaya, Borneo, the Canal Zone, Cyprus, Singapore, and Germany. He ended his distinguished military career as Chief of the General Staff in London and went on to become an Honorary Fellow of Balliol College, Oxford. He died in 2000.

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