There is a Latin saying, 'Hannibal ad Portas'(Hannibal is at the door) and it was said Roman parents used it to threaten their misbehaving children: if a child was bad, the parent would tell them that Hannibal was coming for them - the modern equivalent is the 'bogeyman'. Such was the fear Hannibal Barca instilled in mighty Rome... A panoramic novel, told in arcing, epic technicolour, of the story of one of the ancient world's most celebrated figures and the Second Punic War (218-202BC) - a long, bloody conflict between the two 'super powers' of the times that hinged on the genius, the ambition and the personal tragedies of two towering individuals: Hannibal Barca of Carthage, whose military genius became the stuff of legend, and Publius Scipio of Rome. History, of course, records us the outcome - that Rome would be the victor, surviving to become the colossal Empire we know of, while Carthage was burned to the ground and all but erased from history. But it was a close run thing and the world might have been a very different place had Hannibal succeeded in stifling the might of Rome. PRIDE OF CARTHAGE is an epic, sweeping, thrilling story of ancient warfare, of armies traversing frozen snow-covered mountains, of battles won or lost by brilliant generals fighting in ingenious, cunning ways, of a time when elephants were employed in much the same way as we now use tanks. And it's a novel teeming with superbly drawn, memorable characters and multi-national players, both historical and imagined - from the Numidian horsemen of North Africa to the naked, sword-swinging Celts of Northern Spain, from the ranks of Roman legions to slaves and freemen of all colours and from all corners of the ancient Mediterranean world.