A review by berenikeasteria
The Fall of Carthage: The Punic Wars 265-146BC by Adrian Goldsworthy

4.0

There’s not too much more I could ask for from Adrian Goldsworthy’s The Fall of Carthage. The book is pitched just right, at a level of great engagement with history for public consumption – thorough enough to be professional and offer an academically rigorous deconstruction of the Punic Wars, but also accessible enough for newcomers to understand, with Goldsworthy taking the time to clearly explain key concepts about how warfare and politics was conducted by both sides at this time. He additionally delves into an area that far too many popular histories don’t, confining themselves to straight up narratives of what happened: assessment of the sources. Goldsworthy doesn’t just tell us what happened, he tells us what the evidence is for it happening, and encourages us to critique the sources’ reliability in order to assess how plausible or improbable different versions are. This is so important. Whenever I come to a new area of history that I’m not familiar with, I’m looking for a good introduction that includes grilling the sources, otherwise I’m left with a good deal of uncertainty as to whether this or that really happened because two different authors in two different books will flat out tell me contradictory versions without explaining how and why they interpreted the evidence in that manner. It’s surprising how many popular histories leave this out because they feel that catering to the general public means their audience will be incapable of comprehending these difficulties and all they really want is to be told a straightforward story.

True, this book could be more detailed and denser. You probably won’t find anything new here if you’re already extremely familiar with the Punic Wars. Partially because Goldsworthy does make judicious choices to simplify for his readership, and partially because in his choice to cover all three wars, Goldsworthy seeks to create overarching context rather than intense debate. Conversely, those unfamiliar with history non-fiction may find the book a little on the dry side, since the author focuses more on strategy and tactics, explaining context, and reviewing sources than he does on grand charismatic personalities. You won’t be swept away by Hannibal’s charisma and genius in this book. But, for me, it mixes the right amount of academic professionalism with general accessibility, and that made it a good read.

7 out of 10