One of the Great Battles of Ancient History!

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	• Cannae 216 BC: Hannibal smashes Rome's Army (Campaign) Mark Healy Osprey Publishing, 1994 - 96 pages average customer review:based on 3 reviews view larger image
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Overall Good but flawed

Quite a good introduction for the 2nd punic war period. Nicely illustrated using plates from other man-at arms books. The maps are interesting and a nice addition. Healy's numbering of the Legions is a great feature and he seems to do a good job of keeping a track of the many bodies of troops raised for assorted campaigns. Another pleasant bonus are the pictures of the battle fields today, illustrating probable campsites and lines of advance. My only major complaint concerns his revisionist views on Varro. He spends too many pages in my view excusing his dismal performance on the day of the battle. He discounts both Livy and Polybius and suggests that other Consul was in command on the day. Any general worth his salt should have learned something from the previous defeats. Varro's deep deployment is clearly to blame for this day of Roman disaster. Healy makes out that no one could have beaten Hannibal on the day. A longer battle line would have saved the Romans and they had plenty of troops to do that. Hannibal tactics were excellent and have been a source of inspiration to many other generals over the centuries. That aside it is a good read and general introduction to the period 3/5 ***'s

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One of the Great Battles of Ancient History!

Another great book in the Osprey Campaign series. Like all Campaign books it gives important background information on the cause of the war, the opposing leaders and the armies that fought the battle. In addition there is a detailed description of Hannibal's invasion of Italy, the preceding battles of Ticinus, Trebbia and Lake Trasimene, and the climatic clash at Cannae. It also gives an interesting account of the "Fabian" strategy of the Romans that would bring them eventual victory in the war. If you are interested in the battles of the ancient world or Roman history this is a must for your library.

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EXCELLENT WRITING, GREAT MAPS

Cannae 216 Bc : Hannibal Smashes Rome's Army (Campaign Series, No 36) by Mark Healy is positive proof that good things do come in small packages. While the book is short (96 pages) it is jammed pack with useful and information and maps. If one is looking for a well written account of the Second Punic War up to the battle of Cannae there are few books which are better.

I purchased the book after reading a number of accounts of the battle of Cannae contained in more extensive studies of Hannibal. However, in each case I was disappointed with the discussion of Cannae. Healy's book was not a disappointment. Especially appealing were the maps which accompanied the prose. What little that was missing in the verbal description was more than made up for in the maps.

After finishing the book, I felt that I understood the tactics and strategy that were both planned for and carried out. This is an excellent book and I would highly recommend it.

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Cannae is rightly regarded as one of the greatest battles of military history. Hannibal's stratagem has become a model of the perfectly fought battle and is studied in detail at military academies around the world. At Cannae the Romans confronted Hannibal with an army of 80,000 infantry and 6,000 cavalry. Hannibal faced them with 40,000 foot and 10,000 horse. The engagement that followed was a masterpiece of battlefield control. By the end of the conflict the Romans had lost 47,500 infantry and 2,700 cavalry killed and a further 19,300 captured.

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