Carthage Must Be Destroyed: The Rise and Fall of an Ancient Civilization Audiobook

" A fair amount of supposition in the work, but that's to be expected when all that exists of the literature on Carthage is filtered through the pens of Its enemies. A good retelling of the Punic Wars, in particular the First, which elsewhere often gets glossed over. "

" Took me far too long to read this. It wasn't exactly what I'd expected, as the narrative focus was as much about the relationship between representations of Carthaginian and Roman gods as it was about the city and people themselves. I have to admit it was fascinating to see how historians and politicians of that time enlisted the help of the gods or claimed divine right to rule through them - wars of propaganda alongside the actual conflicts themselves - but for some reason this wasn't the easiest of reads. Was it the overload of different Hannos, Hannibals and Hasdrubals? (The Carthaginians certainly liked those names) Or was it that the tone of the book was just a little too dry for my liking? One worth keeping in any case, as the subject itself remains an interesting one and I'll probably come back to this one day. "

" Great book! Very informative about the Punic wars. Wish it could have offered more info about the Punic way of life and culture. "

" The title refers to a famous quote of Cato the Elder, a Roman statesman, about the threat to Rome from Carthage. The book is a case study of the rise and fall of Carthage. It is very thorough and mostly interesting. There are several nice lines in the book. One of the more interesting is that Carthage was important as an opponent to Rome and the conflictual history with Carthage forced the Roman state to mature in order to survive and thus contributed to the long period of Roman dominance under the Empire. Another line of thinking that I had not appreciated until now was the role of ideology in the wars between Carthage and Rome -- which Gods were triumphant and how did these states adapt the array of gods in an area to serve their needs. Another interesting line is the complex politics within these states. Both Rome and Carthage were far from monolithic actors and understand the politics was critical for success. Indeed, this point is made concerning Hannibal and his ineffectiveness in following up on his military triumphs. The ability of the winners in a conflict to write the official history is also clearly brought across in the narrative. Finally, Miles does a good job covering Hannibal and Scipio and brilliant tactical generals and key battles, such as Cannae, are well covered. On its weaker side, the book seems a bit willing to digress in order to fill in detail - and lengthen the page count. Given the lack of common familiarity with ancient African, Roman, and pre-Roman history, I am sympathetic to the author's efforts to inform and provide background and the book is fairly successful at this. "

" The descriptions of battle taken from period sources were eminently fascinating. Highly recommended for someone wanting an in depth history of the Punic Wars and all things Carthaginian. Only for the dedicated audience. "

" Dry read - I didn't enjoy it as a casual read, but I would turn to this if I ever had to do a paper or research on the topic. "

" Full of interesting information regarding the specifics of Carthaginian history, but with no overarching theme to tie it all together. Good for someone looking for research material, not for casual reading. "

" The Mediterranean from the Carthaginian point of view. "

" Good solid read, not anything groundbreaking but a good coverage of Carthage's histroy "

" Lots of good info, but incredibly dry. I got through about half of it. Might pick it up again at a later date. "

" The archaeology sections especially where masterful. "

" I would have like this book to be more about the ancient civilization of Carthage and less about the military rise and fall of the city state. The author is a historian and never constructs a compelling narrative outside the chronology of military feats. "

" The descriptions of battle taken from period sources were eminently fascinating. Highly recommended for someone wanting an in depth history of the Punic Wars and all things Carthaginian. Only for the dedicated audience. "

" Rome needed Carthage like the US needed the USSR or whatever general purpose baddie we use now to serve as a mirror and a foil. "

" I thought this book would be about Carthage, but instead it's a lengthy discussion about the Hercules mythical character in various cultures. "