Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon
by B. H. Liddell Hart
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Book Summary Information
Author: B. H. Liddell HartEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2004-03
ISBN: 0306813637
Number of pages: 312
Publisher: Da Capo Press
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780306813634
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon
Book Review: disappointing
Summary: 1 Stars
found this book very disappointing. Most that like this book like the idea as opposed to the facts of the book and I agree with them. but upon further investigation hart fails to deliver. hart is hard to read due to his lack of clarity and academic expertise. his work is amateurish at best. he is read in the command and general staff college because when he wrote his books he was accepted because he was a military man. today there are higher standards of evidence and acadademc procedures for logically building a case. i picked up this book because i was intrigued by his subject. i'm not saying that scipio is not worthy, certainly napolean is Vastly over-rated, but hart fails to put forth any real evidence as to his assertions. i'm sorry that some people (Ross W. Stevens)can not deal with this dissenting opinion, but that is too bad for him, he must hate officers. everyone is entitled to an opinion and one must not personally attack those with differing ideas. i think history has shown us what people like that are capable of doing - Nazis and Fascists come to mind.
there is not enough evidence in the historical record from primary sources to really back up Hart's assertions about scipio. it was easy for hart to make his assertions. he did so because scipio defeated hannibal and certainly that makes scipio great. you have to read about hannibal and draw your own conclusions. i believe hannibal is famous because he stupidly came over the alps and caused havic in rome, but was he great or did the romans just lack organization and a decent commander?? your call. Fabian tactics worked, did they not, but did not rid rome of hannibal? if hannibal were that great he would have should have taken rome - he did not! i wanted to believe hart because his point of view was new and interesting, because the majority believe that Napolean, for example, was a great commander when actually he was a self promoter and benefited from luck. Napolean abandoned two of his armies, one in Russia and one in Egypt. Kind of like Custer, but that is another story...
evidence is hard to come by when dealing with ancient times and scipio is no exception. even the exploits of Alexander fit into this category. most of the history we take for granted is incorrect and this book by hart takes this on, but fails to deliver.
that is all i can give on this to explain my apparent Upsetting dissention to the prevailing opinions that this book is Great, it is not. it was maybe when it was published, but we have standards now for this kind of work. i think this above displays my vast understanding of this time period and goes beyond just being an army officer and holder of a masters degree in ancient and classical history. To further my point, not that I need to, it amazes me when people write a whole book about a subject such as Thermopylae, for example, when the primary sources on the subject (Herodotus) only wrote a few pages on the subject to begin with. this may not exactly be the case with scipio, but there is plenty of room for questions. almost everything we have from primary sources re:Rome is questionable for one reason or another due to bias and political persuasion. just read about the julio-claudian emperors for example to determine for yourself. how could they be all that suetonius says they were and continue to build a healthy empire for more than 100 years.
Summary of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon
Scipio Africanus (236183 b.c.) was one of the most exciting and dynamic leaders in history. As commander, he never lost a battle. Yet it is his adversary, Hannibal, who has lived on in public memory.As B.H. Liddell Hart writes,"Scipio's battles are richer in stratagems and ruses--many still feasible today--than those of any other commander in history." Any military enthusiast or historian will find this to be an absorbing, gripping portrait.
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