Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare

A Wicked History

by Philip Brooks

Book PaperbackPublication 3/1/2009 128Reading Age 12 and Up

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Biography, Middle Grade, Biography Memoir, Historical

128 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 2008

Reviews

[Tucker Publius · Rating 5 out of 5]

In Hannibal Rome’s Worst Nightmare, by Philip Brooks, the author did an excellent job telling about the life of, Hannibal, as a general. In this book, a fearsome, strong, scary, brave, and smart general named Hannibal is conquering the bottom half of Europe. His main objective is to destroy Rome, and he will do anything to achieve that goal. Some more interesting moments in this book, included, crazed elephants, poison, and months in the frozen Alp Mountains. Philip Brooks did an amazing job of giving examples of what Hannibal had to go through in his life as a Roman general. Hannibal killed people in battles, including Scipio, Flaminius, Sempronius, Hanno, Fabius, Varro, Paullus, and Scipio Africanus (who got the name Africanus from winning in North Africa), Hamilcar. Hannibal’s father who was also a bright, strong and intelligent man was a big influence in his life. I like this book because it explains what Hannibal did as a general on his way to attempt to destroy Rome. It also showed how he was a smart intelligent person when it came to battles in war. We still use the tactics today in a battle and wars today!

[Ryan Virgilis · Rating 4 out of 5]

I recommend the book “Hannibal Rome’s worst nightmare.” The book is mainly about the story of Hannibal and what he went through in his lifetime. I would recommend this to any person over 10 years old that likes to learn about ancient warriors. Hannibal was alive around 2000 years ago in 217 b.c. Hannibal was Carthaginian and took control of the Carthaginian army when he was 26. Carthage is located in the northern part of what we now know as Africa. A lot of people hated him, like Romans, but the Carthaginians loved him for his success and gaining a lot of territory. Hannibal is still known and cared about today. This is because of all the accomplishments he has done, and all of the people he defeated in Rome. I like this book because it’s a good book to read to learn more about battles and war. I also like this book because it is an easy reader and it is in more of a novel then original, boring textbook style. The book mainly talks about how his troops were lead to gain new grounds, and to show how some of the things Hannibal did were good, and how some didn’t succeed. This is a great book for anyone with spare time, and I defiantly recommend picking up a copy and reading it.

[Kristen M.]

Hannibal is at the gates! Or so the terrified declaration goes.

The Roman Empire's most ferocious enemy does his best to terrorize Roman citizens and wildly succeeds repeatedly, until he doesn't. The man used elephants in his infantry. He crossed the Alps with his troops and 37 elephants and used ELEPHANTS in battle alongside his cavalry! This title is a part of a history's villains series that I like.

[Tobreth Hansen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Learned some new things, like what a Corvus is. The battle I go isn’t too detailed or gory. The follow up reminds us that victors write the history. Yes, aimed at kids but for me just a good amount of info. Interesting to me also is yesterday, before I picked up this book and totally unrelated to my picking it up today, I decided to visit Tunisia.

[Sam L · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannibal was a courageous general that fought Rome with a fierce stragedy. He eventually died when he pushed himself too far.

[Scott Hayden · Rating 4 out of 5]

Biography centering on the battle years. Straightforward account of Hannibal's campaign and losses. Maps, timelines, and a character web give easy reference points from the very beginning, which were necessary since two of Hannibal's relatives shared the same name.

Weird fact: Hannibal is the first known general to use a "biological weapon". You'll have to read it, research it, or buy me ice cream to find out how.

[Mandy Crumb · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and easy to follow biography. Illustrations and timelines make this appealing to visual learners as well. Definitely worth the time spent reading it. Middle grade and up can read it independently or read out loud for younger ones.

[Christina Pilkington · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting middle grade nonfiction book about the life of Hannibal. Great layout and lots of great info packed into such a small book. Highly recommended.

[Olivia]

I thought the book was very interesting. It was very nice to learn about Hannibal.

[D Curtis · Rating 5 out of 5]

Hannibal: Rome´s Worst Nightmare was an amazing book, I love this book to death and I am looking forward to reading all of the other wicked history books. I was so fascinated on Hannibal´s strategies and plans that he had during battle or war. This book by Philip Brooks is non fiction and I think its a all around good book to read. This book was about the great Hannibal and his city Carthage during the war with Rome Hannibal's enemy. It was about Hannibal and how he grew up, his family, and how he became commander of the army. It described how he was unstoppable and kept on winning battles on the way to Rome. Rome started to even fear of him and his army even though Rome had the best army in the world during the time. I recommend this book to anyone who likes non fiction and is interested in history.

[Michelle · Rating 4 out of 5]

Part of the Wicked History series, this title introduces readers to the life of Hannibal Barca and his quest to destroy Rome. This compact book begins with the description of a particularly brutal encounter between Hannibal’s forces and the Roman Army in which thousands of Rome’s sons were slaughtered. Ensuing chapters outline Hannibal’s life, beginning with his childhood as he witnessed his father’s defeat at the hands of the Roman Army in the first Punic War. Hannibal followed in his father’s footstep to become a brilliant strategist and commander. He vowed to forever be an enemy of Rome and ultimately marched on Rome via a land route that included crossing the natural land barriers of the Pyrenees and the Alps. He brought his mighty army to bear on Italy and held his ground for fifteen years.
Short chapters and the inclusion of timelines, maps, a family tree, photographs, and illustrations make this fascinating title a compelling read. A section consisting of images and brief captions gives readers a summary of the overall text. Hannibal is a great choice for reluctant readers. Primary source material and the inclusion of essential questions allow this title to correlate with Social Studies Standards.

[Gabe Fantacone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Many cruel people have tried and failed to take control of the Roman Empire. Countless foreign countries, soldiers and barbarians have made foiled attempts at controlling a government that lasted over two thousand years. But one Carthaginian militant came closer than anyone to toppling the Romans. He made people all over the Mediterranean dread one very familiar phrase: “Hannibal is at the gates!”
The powerful general Hannibal Barca never failed to surprise his armies with effective and genial strategies for fighting his enemies. At a very young age, Hannibal swore an oath to never be a friend of Rome. This oath was a possible influence on his ideas for war tactics, because almost all of Hannibal’s ideas were to be used against the Roman armies in battle. He was on the center lines of both Punic Wars and was a longtime enemy of the Roman commander Scipio. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in Hannibal’s rise to power and battle strategies, because it gives valuable information on both subjects.

[Maximus Publius · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book “Hannibal: Rome’s Worst Nightmare” By Philip Brooks takes place at about 200 B.C., Where a child named Hannibal who is 9 years old, vows to his father that he will always be an enemy of Rome. His father, Hamilcar, who was a Carthaginian general, wants to gain power over Rome. Hamilcar dies before taking over Rome, which leaves that responsibility in the hands of Hannibal, his fearsome son (26). Hannibal guides his 40,000 troops, and 37 elephants through a 1,500-mile journey to conquer Rome. I really think that the book was good because it taught me about who Hannibal was and what he did. I also think that the title “Rome’s Worst Nightmare” really fits the book because Hannibal was a huge threat to Rome because he had such a gigantic army, and was such a courageous and strategic leader. I enjoyed the book because it always made me want to know what will happen next to Hannibal and his troops, and always kept me interested.

[Paula · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is one of Scholastic’s “Wicked History” biographies and features Hannibal Barca. Easy-to-read text provides readers with lots of sound information on the infamous military genius. The dynamic visual format divides the book into four parts, each with varied illustrations. Each section is preceded by questions to help the reader focus on the salient facts of Hannibal’s life. An afterword titled “Wicked?” features primary source accounts by Hannibal’s Roman counterparts and poses the notion that much of what we know of Hannibal may be colored by Roman opinions. A timeline, maps, profiles of Hannibal’s contemporaries and project ideas round out this well-researched title. Back matter includes a glossary, bibliography, publisher’s website and index. This biography is a worthwhile addition to any library and will appeal to adults as well. It succeeds in making ancient history interesting and engaging.

[Megan Whalen]

"Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare" by Philip Brooks is a wonderful, action packed story about the history famous, Hannibal. It's a story about his life and accomplishments. It gives you a full background on what went on in the 45 years Hannibal was alive. This book keeps you reading.

What I liked about this book is how descriptive it is when the author is talking about the Punic Wars. I also liked how it gave you information on his family too. This book was an all around good book. This book is an easy read

I recommend this book to people who like world history. You would be very interested in this book. You would also like this book if you want an easy read. This book was very easy to read and I had no problem with it. I hope you like this book as much as I did.

[Fabio · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannibal. He was fearless and outsmarted his enemy almost always and when he couldn't he outsmart them he would kill every single one of them. As a kid he promised he would never ally with rome, he hated rome for the rest of his life. At a young age he helped in the army with his brother as the leader but when the brother was assassinated Hannibal took lead and fought against rome. Rome thought of carthage as a small powerless town but then Hannibal came Marching in and changed everything. He slaughtered thousands of romans and had the greatest ideas to outsmart his enemy. If you want to know them you should read this book, its one of my favorites,

[Omar Elsiefy · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannibal: Rome's Worst Nightmare, is a great book. It's packed with information about how Hannibal tried to attack Rome, and almost managed to control it. Hannibal was very smart and deceiving which gave him an upper hand. However, Rome had the numbers. It is an epic battle and journey for Hannibal and his army. If you like history books than this book is great, it has pictures of the wars and lots of facts. Its a short read, but a great one.

[Megan Anderson · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent book, perfect for the project. Having read it, my vote is that, no, he was not actually a bad guy. He was a brilliant strategist trying to expand his empire...just like most other rulers throughout history. Plenty of interesting information about someone who is usually skipped over or relegated to a single sentence in most school textbooks.

4/5 on here, 8/10 for myself

[Bryant · Rating 3 out of 5]

I've always wanted to learn a little more about Hannibal and came across this book in the children's section of the library. It's definitely written for younger readers but still serves as a brief introduction to Hannibal. Hannibal ad portas!

[Melanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting. I find it quite fascinating that thousands of years later Hannibal's war tactics are still studied and we are still talking about him.

[Clarence · Rating 5 out of 5]

The book as great. It tell me a lot of suff about he.I a love the books

[Felkaissi4 · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hannibal Barca was always curious about his father's affairs. His dad was and army genral and Hannibal had watched his many victorious battles.

[Ana · Rating 3 out of 5]

The first book I read about the series of "a wicked history" was amazing (Genghis Khan), however, this story is kind of boring and I thought it was going to be better.

[Shelli · Rating 4 out of 5]

A Wicked History series provides a quick yet nice overview of the featured leader, in this case Hannibal Barca, best known as Hannibal, the fearsome military leader of Cathage who crossed the Alps with elephants to attack Rome. These books are perfect for any middle/high school classroom or library and are guaranteed to make history exciting for students

[Shayne.M. · Rating 4 out of 5]

good book very interesting lots of facts keep me wanting to read more