Hannibal: The General Who Almost Destroyed Rome

You know a kid who loves battles.Armies, war elephants, generals, the ancient world. But hand them page after page of plain text and the book goes down.So here is a true story, written like a thriller and illustrated on every page.At nine years old, Hannibal swore an oath to be Rome's enemy for life. He floated war elephants across a river on rafts and marched them over the Alps. At Cannae he led 80,000 Romans into a trap. No one came closer to destroying Rome.The pictures are only half of it. Let me explain.The picture, and the story right under itThis is Hannibal's whole life, from the oath at nine to his exile at sixty-four, in 152 pages of story. Every page carries at least one original illustration, and some carry two or three: 182 in all. Under each picture is the paragraph that tells you exactly what is happening in it. The same faces are drawn from first page to last, from Hannibal at nine to Hannibal at sixty-four.A reader could follow the whole story from the pictures alone. The writing moves fast, in short sentences, so a strong nine-year-old can read it alone.Every word is trueThe story comes from the ancient historians Polybius and Livy. When they disagree, the book tells you. It gives you the hard numbers too: Hannibal crossed the Rhone with 46,000 men and came down out of the Alps with about 26,000.A glossary explains every unfamiliar word, and a sources section at the back shows where the history comes from.What you may be wonderingIs it a picture book? No. The paperback runs 174 pages at 7 by 10 inches, with paragraphs of story under the pictures. Scroll down and you'll see two real pages.Is it too violent? It is honest about what war cost, and never gratuitous.Is it in colour? The cover is. Inside, the illustrations are detailed black-and-white drawings.Why this one, when others cost less? A short picture biography gives you a few pictures in a thin book. This gives you 182 illustrations and a whole life, start to finish.Do you need the other books first? No. This is Book 1 of Graphic Chronicles: Epic Conquerors. Alexander the Great is Book 2 and Genghis Khan is Book 3. Each one stands alone.I'm K.M. Hardie. I spent twenty-five years making complicated things simple to read, and now I do it with true history.For readers 9 to 15 who love battles and ancient history. It makes a good birthday or Christmas present: 152 pages of true story, 182 original illustrations, one whole life.Click Read sample and turn three pages. You'll see what I mean.