B. H. Liddell Hart's Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon

Reviewed by Paul Rice

Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon, by B. H. Liddell Hart (De Capro Press, Sept. 1994) (Softcover). Also available in hardcover reprint.

Hart's 1926 biography of Publius Cornelius Scipio is essentially one long treatise attempting to prove Scipio was the greatest general of all time. The biography covers Scipio as much as possible from birth to death, concentrating on his role in the Second Punic War. The author provides fair to good descriptions of the battles of (Novo) Cartagena, Baecula, Ilipa, Agathocles, Great Plains, the destruction of the Punic camps in Africa, and Zama. In addition to the obvious coverage of campaigns, troop movements, and battles, Hart discusses at length Scipio's handling of a mutiny, treatment of hostages, and expertise in international diplomacy, which was always key in the Second Punic War.

The book cruises along for the first 14 chapters, and is fun reading, clear and concise; but, really slows down for the last two chapters, getting too deep into hero worship. By the end he is doing nothing but striving to prove Scipio was the greatest general who ever lived. Hart's logic is compelling on the surface, but he has a tendency to select criteria and examples that make Scipio look good or another general bad, and ignore criteria or examples to the contrary.

Being a piece of non-fiction, it helps to understand the time and setting of the author. An Englishman writing in 1926, he includes frequent references to the most recent debacle (The Great War or World War One), and ominous foreshadows of the upcoming main event (World War Two).

It contains 7 maps, but no drawings or photos. This text was almost certainly used as a reference for Avalon Hill's Hannibal: Rome vs. Carthage, but the latter does not list its references. Hart also throws in bits of good military doctrine:

"In modern war no feature has told more heavily against decisive results than the absence of the commander's personal observation and control."

Okay, that agrees with about 100 things I've said, written, and done in my life.

"A 'fixing' attack should be on the broadest possible front in order to occupy the enemy's attention and prevent him turning to meet the decisive blow elsewhere."

"They were clearly imbued with the principle that a penetration must be promptly widened before it is deepened."

Not sure about that one. Have to think about that.

"As Polybius justly says, 'Those who have won victories are far more numerous than those who have used them to advantage.', and Scipio, more than any other great captain, seems to have grasped the truth that the fruits of victory lie in the after years of peace - a truth hardly realised even to-day [1926], despite the lessons of Versailles."

"The lover of literature will prefer Livy's version; but the historian, weighing the evidence of data and circumstance, will prefer to accept Polybius's version."

"The aim of a nation in war is, therefore, to subdue the enemy's will to resist with the least possible human and economic loss to itself."

I casually recommend this book for fans of the Second Punic War. (Skim the second to last chapter, and skip the last chapter.) I don't recommend the book for anyone else: it would be too arcane.

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