The Young Carthaginian: A Tale of the Times of Hannibal

by G.A. Henty, William Sutherland (Reading)

Set in ancient times, during the Punic wars, this story follows the adventures of young Malchus, an officer in Hannibal's army. Henty describes the army's incredible journey through southern Europe and across the Alps in fascinating detail, providing both a lesson in ancient history and an absorbing story. The balance of power in Europe swayed between Rome and Carthage and the outcome of this struggle would determine the course of Western Civilization even until today.

Genres: Historical Fiction, Fiction, Adventure, Classics, Historical, Childrens, Young Adult

Audio CD

First published January 1, 1887

About the author

George Alfred Henty, better known as G.A. Henty, began his storytelling career with his own children. After dinner, he would spend and hour or two in telling them a story that would continue the next day. Some stories took weeks! A friend was present one day and watched the spell-bound reaction of his children suggesting Henty write down his stories so others could enjoy them. He did. Henty wrote approximately 144 books in addition to stories for magazines and was known as "The Prince of Story-Tellers" and "The Boy's Own Historian." One of Mr. Henty's secretaries reported that he would quickly pace back and forth in his study dictating stories as fast as the secretary could record them.

Henty's stories revolve around fictional boy heroes during fascinating periods of history. His heroes are diligent, intelligent, and dedicated to their country and cause in the face, at times, of great peril... Henty's heroes fight wars, sail the seas, discover land, conquer evil empires, prospect for gold, and a host of other exciting adventures. Along the way, they meet famous personages... In short, Henty's heroes live through tumultuous historic eras meeting leaders of that time. Understanding the culture of the time period becomes second nature as well as comparing/contrasting the society of various cultures.

Reviews

[Katrina · Rating 5 out of 5]

I grew up reading G.A. Henty, and, while I admit I often found his books boring, I love coming back to them now for the history. His books are geared more toward boys than girls, but I have always found them to be interesting, engaging, and informative. Henty was a thorough and meticulous historian, and you will be sure to learn a lot from his books. I particularly enjoy his four ancient stories: the Cat of Bubbastes, the Young Carthaginian, Beric the Briton, and For the Temple.

All that being said, it is important to remember that Henty was interested mostly in the historical, rather than the fictional, side of his books. Most of his stories are heavy on history and light on the actual plot line and hero. While this bothers many readers, I have never found it to be much of an issue. Read the books for the history, and you will be enlightened and informed. Read the books for the fiction, and you may find yourself bored. That is the case with most, if not quite all, of Henty's books.

Henty was a Christian, which I love, because it means that he always takes a Christian perspective on historical events. The Young Carthaginian is probably one of his only books in which the character does not come into contact with Jewish or Christian influences, which makes it a little sad but also accurate to the times.

Ultimately, I wish more boys and girls were exposed to Henty; his books are packed full with history and are a great way to learn about different time periods and events!

[Hannah Mozingo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Meh. The history aspect was interesting enough. The repetitiveness of it all was a bit too much. I just don't get on with Henty in the best way.... 2.5 stars.

[Naomi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Car audiobook the boys particularly enjoyed. Historical fiction to immerse you in the long battles between Rome and Carthage.

[Justine Friedman · Rating 3 out of 5]

Slower built up, loved the second half!

[Kathryn Fuller]

I love so many of G.A. Henty’s other works but this one was just dull and preachy. The narrator was all wrong too in the audiobook. I’ll stick to the other titles of his that are more engaging.

[Feliks · Rating 1 out of 5]

Can not recommend to others, nor even tolerate myself--even with the widest leeway granted for a children's adventure book, this is frankly godawful. I had high hopes for this fine-looking printed work of historic fiction---it is a very handsome volume, complete with publisher's notes, author's preface, maps, illustrations, and superb cover art. In short, everything one could ask except good writing. The book fails on four broad points: content, technique, characters, and dialog. I will itemize them in turn:

Content: staid, stale, stodgy. There is no new historical information provided. It's all straight out of a Western Civ 101 textbook. Content-wise, it falls well short of being anything amazing, un-guessed at, or looked-at-from-a-fresh angle. Henty makes no startling addition to what we know of Hannibal's campaign. Dismal & dismaying to discover this in such a famed novel.

Technique: Not successful. The author labors to convey his story wholly without the imagination necessary for the task. Blocky paragraphs of adjectives and adverbs, falling back on a mass of old, exaggerated cliches and hyperbole such as 'his lofty forehead' and 'his tireless companions'. Henty descends into the old pitfall of 'telling, rather than showing'. No one wants to hear a western historian re-tell the Punic War in this fashion, believe me. This kind of writing would make the Strathemeyer syndicate wince!

Characterization: the two grievances above would not damn the book entirely. But (you think to yourself trying to find something via which to salvage your purchase) "Well, if the history is lacking, are there at least any engaging characters?" Edgar Rice Burroughs proved that a hist-fic book without excellent research done, can still be fun if the characters are well-invented, convincing, and charismatic. Unfortunately here, they are not. What you get is leaden, wooden depiction, stilted and unrealistic. Cardboard-cutouts and store-window mannequins. It is frankly annoying to see the great Hannibal depicted in such a simplistic fashion. The Carthaginian army are --in this book--nowhere drawn earthy or vulgar the way we might expect soldiers to be. These men do not stink, spit, curse, urinate, or sweat--they 'perspire' and dab at their forehead with their hankies. They "do not know the meaning of the word 'fear'"! You catch my drift.

Dialog: worst I've seen in a long time. There is no casual, vernacular slang. No colloquialisms, no colorful chatter--these troops all speak exceeding proper, formal schoolroom English. How bizarre! There is no ethnic flavor to the conversations at all. There is not even any especially 'Carthaginian world-view' offered. This story of the invasion of Rome is essentially told from the Roman viewpoint even though the troops wear barbarian armor. Everything is conveyed through a British mindset. Yes...this highly-lugubrious dialog, is really what forced me to toss the book aside. Painfully mawkish speech-making. No one in history ever spoke like these figures do.

The book simply can't recover from these faults. Sad.

[Katja Labonté · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 stars & 3/10 hearts. I used to find this story a bit boring. Now, I really appreciate Hannibal & his story. Malchus is a nice boy, & I really like Clothilde. And Nessus is an amazing sidekick. There is a mention of the child-burning & captive-killing that was a part of the Carthaginian religion; also it is implied that Malthus is rubbed down with oil by women at one point. To me the interest of the story lies in the historical portion—Hannibal’s war against Rome. It’s really fascinating & thought-provoking.

A Favourite Quote: “His sons were now growing up, and he spared no efforts to ... fill their minds with noble and lofty thoughts.”
A Favourite Humorous Quote: “‘...you fishermen with your oars in your hands must join the others and go through the streets shouting “Hannibal for general! Down with Hanno and the tax gatherers!”’
“‘Down with the tax gatherers is a good cry,’ the old fisherman said. ‘They take one fish of every four I bring in, and always choose the finest. Don’t you be afraid, sir; we will be there, oars and all, when you give the word.’”

[Féarghal Mac giobúin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I first read the Young Carthaginian as a child.

Back then the Romans were popularly seen as the good guys, the civilising force of order against the barbarian hordes. To read this through the eyes of a young Carthaginian officer, a cousin to the dreaded Hannibal was groundbreaking for me.

Malchus is a sympathetic protagonist and we follow him through campaigns in Spain, southern France, across the Alps and into Italy. Hannibal's greatest triumphs such as the River Trebia, Lake Trasimene and of course Cannae are all intimately described.

Henty shows the cost of war and the human suffering quite harshly. Malchus loses men not just to the enemy but to disease, the cold and desertion. It is an absolute classic and a great introduction for children to historical fiction, as good as if not better than the Eagle of the Ninth.

[Del · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun book about a time I didn't know much about. The author does a pretty good job of transporting you back to give you a view of what life was like during the time of Hannibal. I enjoyed it, but someone who already knows a lot about this time likely would not. It is an era I haven't studied, however, so I learned enough to make it enjoyable.

Listened to the unabridged Audible.com audiobook version.

[Katie Krombein · Rating 5 out of 5]

p. 15: In the depth of winter, his father had made him pass the nights uncovered and almost without clothing, in the cold. He had bathed in the icy water of the torrents from the snow clad hills, and had been forced to keep up with the rapid march of the light-armed troops in pursuit of the Iberians. He was taught to endure long abstinence from food and to bear pain without flinching; to be cheerful under the greatest hardships, and to wear a smiling face when even veteran soldiers were worn out and disheartened. "It is incumbent upon us, the rulers and aristocracy of this great city, my son, to show ourselves superior to the common herd. They must recognize that we are not only richer and of better blood, but that we are stronger, wiser, and more courageous than they. So only can we expect them to obey us, and to make the sacrifices which war entails upon them....
p. 16: "In Italy, Rome looms greater and more powerful year by year. Her people are hardy and trained to arms, and someday the struggle between us and her will have to be fought out to the death. Therefore, my son, it behooves us to use every effort to make ourselves worthy of our position. Set before yourself the example of your cousin Hannibal, who, young as he is, is already viewed as the greatest man in Carthage. Grudge no hardship or suffering to harden your Frame and strengthen your arms. Someday you too may lead armies in the field, and, believe me, they will follow you all the better and more cheerfully if they know that in strength and endurance, as well as in position, their commander is the foremost man in his army."

p. 41: "The world does not contain a site better fitted for the seat of a mighty city. Nature seems to have marked it out. WIth the great rock fortress, the splendid bays and harbors, the facilities for commerce, the fertile country stretching away on either hand; give her but a government strong, capable, and honest, --a people patriotic, brave, and devoted,-and Carthage would long remain the mistress of the world."
"Surely she may yet remain so," Adherbal exclaimed.
"I fear not," Hamilcar said, gravely shaking his head. "It seems to be the fate of all nations that, as they grow in wealth, so they lose their manly virtues. With wealth comes corruption, indolence, a reluctance to make sacrifices, and a weakening of the feeling of patriotism. Power falls into the hands of the ignorant many. Instead of the destinies of the country being swayed by the wisest and best, a fickle multitude, swayed by interested demagogues, assumes the direction of affairs, and the result is inevitable--wasted powers, gross mismanagement, final ruin."

p. 67: A country which relies entirely for its defense upon mercenaries is rapidly approaching decay. She may for a time repress one tributary with the soldiers of the others; but when disaster befalls her, she is without cohesion and falls to pieces at once. ...Rome, on the contrary, young and vigorous, was a people of warriors. Everyone of her citizens who was capable of bearing arms was a soldier. The manly virtues were held in the highest esteem, and the sordid love of wealth had not as yet enfeebled her strength or sapped her powers. Her citizens were men, indeed, ready to make any sacrifice for their country; and such being the case, her final victory over Carthage was a matter of certainty.

p. 115: ...grievances, however great, could only be righted when the people at large were determined that a change should be made.
"There would be neither order nor stability in affairs, Malchus, if parties of desperate men of one party or another were ever striving for change, for revolution would be met by counter-revolution. The affairs of nations march slowly; sudden changes are ever to be deprecated. If every clique of men who chance to be supported by a temporary wave of public opinion were to introduce organic changes, there would be no stability in affairs. Capital would be alarmed; the rich and powerful, seeing their possessions threatened and their privileges attacked by the action of the demagogues of the hour, would do as our forefathers of Tyre, when the whole of the aristocracy emigrated in a body to Carthage, and Tyre received a blow from which has never recovered."

[Daphyne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was going to try to read through 40 of these this year but I’m thinking it isn’t going to happen. The history is interesting but Henry was very much an author steeped in the Victorian mores of his time. The endless easy moralizing removes any growth of the main character leaving him static. He never has a failure of character. Never learns anything. Ultimately it’s just boring and unrelatable.

“From first to last, through the long war, there was neither grumbling, nor discontent, nor insubordination among the troops.
They served willingly and cheerfully. They had absolute confidence in their general, and were willing to undertake the most tremendous labours and to engage in the most arduous conflicts to please him, knowing that he, on his part, was unwearied in promoting their comfort and well-being at all other times.”

The above quote is a good illustration. I wanted to roll my eyes and say “Oh brother!” You can’t tell me Hannibal’s men dragged themselves over the Alps and never had a moment of wearied weakness and doubt.

[Rick Stuckwisch · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was our second G.A. Henty book (following after The Cat of Bubastes). Henty wrote historical fiction, typically crafting a fictional narrative within a highly accurate historical context. In this case he traced the efforts of Hannibal to conquer Rome on behalf of Carthage. I enjoyed the story while also finding the history engaging and informative. Although I previously had some vague awareness of Hannibal, but this was a period of history that I have not been well aware of or familiar with. We're working our way through a number of Henty's books, reading them in order of historical chronology. My interest has certainly been whetted with the first two books, and I'm looking forward to more.

[Abel Ketchen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think that The Young Carthaginian is a delightful story about Hannibal's conquest for Rome. this book not only tells about the life of a Carthaginian soldier, but also shows us how politically disarrayed Carthage was at the time. Even though this book is fictional (historical fiction), I think it is a valuable insight to how political fragmentation and dictatorships can lead to the collapse of a great empire. Overall, this is a throughly engaging and exiting book that is the kind of literature that people all over the world should grow up reading.

[Олег Чернигевич · Rating 3 out of 5]

70% книги схожі на дуже довгу статтю з вікіпедії куди автор додав діалоги для галочки. Найвідоміші битви другої пунічної війни розкриті скупо, персонажі не деталізовані.
З іншого боку, життя і політична ситуація в Карфагені на передодні війни описані досить цікаво. Одним словом - читається, хоч і без особливого задоволення.

[Leslie Moellering · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another enjoyable read from Henty. He gives more than just the broad overview of history by showing us small details in the lives of a few people we get to know. We learn things about how people lived at that time that would be easily overlooked. And he does a good job of wrapping things up in a satisfying way at the end.

[Shannon B · Rating 2 out of 5]

Henty goes between good dialogue and long rants explaining events. This one felt quite biased and unrealistic in how many times death is escaped and it would have been better to have used a couple different characters to explore different parts of the world events. Probably the first Henty I felt like I’d rather not read again.

[Gloria · Rating 4 out of 5]

While it started out slow, the book picked up pace about half way through. There was also substantially more history in this book than the telling of a fictional story. As a history buff, I didn't mind it in the least. But others looking for a compelling story might be a bit bored.

[Jaguar · Rating 1 out of 5]

TEEEEEERIIIIIIBLEEEEEEE CAN NOT GET THROUGH AND WHY WOULD SOMEONE EVEN WRITE A BOOK LIKE THIS TRYING TO MAKE IT INTO AN ACTION FILLED STORY JUST HISTORY IS FINE DOOOOOOOOO NOOOOOOT READ THIS BOOK TOOOOOOOOO BOOOOOOORING

[Kerri Evans · Rating 2 out of 5]

I couldn't give a 5th grade quality book report on this book if my life depended on it. I listened to this book. The reader sounded like Churchill's American brother. He had mush mouth. It was so distracting I couldn't concentrate.

[Laurel · Rating 3 out of 5]

It’s long-winding and a little rough at parts. But it does have some exciting scenes that pick up the interest and engagement. And best of all, it’s clean and suitable for younger readers (I’d say…middle school and up.)

[Bill Suits · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not his best work and uneven.

[Karen Gadd · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very dense. Hard to get started, but interesting.

[CJ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Having mostly only heard about the Roman side of the Punic Wars, this was a fascinating look at the Carthaginians’ side. Excellent historical novel, albeit slightly slow in a few places.

[Nicholas Maulucci · Rating 1 out of 5]

Eh.

[Laurie Wheeler · Rating 5 out of 5]

A young boy joins Hannibal's forces. A great adventure story that I read aloud to my homeschool kids.

[Tim · Rating 4 out of 5]

We borrowed this book (on CD) from some friends and listened to it in the van whilst traveling hither and yon. To my shame, it's the first Henty I've read. I have heard good things about Henty's work for a number of years, but this was my first experience.

I wish I could have given the book 3 1/2 stars, but I bumped it up to 4... I'm a nice guy.

It was a good story, packed with historical interests. The protagonist, Malchus, was quite lovable in a PG sort of way. He exemplifies many admirable character qualities. The downside, however, was that it made his character seem a bit flat: almost Ned Flanders-ish, but not quite. The story moved from one pond of action and adventure to another to another, to the point where young Machus's life seemed reminiscent of an episode of 24. The action portions of the book, however, were fun and well-told. The streams between those ponds of action, though, were not as pleasing. It would appear that Henty had a penchant for supplying detail, much detail, tedious detail. I think the book would have been better without it, but it was still a good book with it. My seven-year-old liked the book, so I'm sure we'll do more Henty. Maybe we'll even borrow some more from our friends!

[Vic Heaney · Rating 4 out of 5]

A good old-fashioned adventure story. It follows Malchus, a young noble of Carthaginia, as he accompanies Hannibal's army as it invades Italy. Malchus takes part in all the astonishing battle victories of Hannibal and has a few adventures of his own.

A good way of learning some history (although Hannibal is already a hero of mine) at the same time as having a good read.

Of course the adventures, especially the implausibly easy escapes, stretch many points. Henty will not object to me giving him only 4 stars as he departed almost 100 years ago, leaving behind him many fine books like this to be read by young lads like myself. :-)

[Christie Peters · Rating 5 out of 5]

Like Cat of Babastes, this book is about non-English history. It was a great book. One of Henry's best for sticking to the story and filling in details. If you are the type of reader who samples a lot of different authors this must be one of the Henry books you try.
I personally love Henry and intend to read all his books, but there are a few I have to push myself through, as not all his books, there's over 120 of them, are masterpieces.
The Young Carthaginian is excellent. Henry tells you what it was like to match with Hannibal every step of the way.

[Julia Garcia · Rating 5 out of 5]

The Young Carthaginian by G.A. Henty is a book about the struggle between Carthage and Rome. The main character Malchus, is the cousin of Hannibal and fights with him in the battles. Throughout this book we see Malchus as young boy trying to save the sinking city of Carthage and later fighting for its survival. Detailed accounts of Hannibal's conquests constantly meet the reader's eye. This is a well written story and I highly recommend this book to anyone that loves reading.

[Abigail Rasmussen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book when I was 12 years old. Henty books are rather on the "boyish book" side but many girls I know (including myself) enjoy them as well.

You can find many G. A. Henty books on LibriVox: https://catalog.librivox.org/search.p...

A friend of ours, Jim Hodges, has recorded many G. A. Henty books and we own them all and my brothers have listened to everyone of them. http://jimhodgesaudiobooks.com/