The Son

'The Son' follows Hannibal's career from his service in Spain as a cavalry commander, through his elevation to General and the implementation of his father's plan to attack across the Alps in response to a declaration of war by the Romans.
Hannibal is portrayed, not as a heroic leader obsessed with achieving victory, nor as a perfidious villain out to crush the Romans, but as a young man, dragged away from his princess wife and their newborn child. He is beset by the ghost of his father as he leads the Carthaginian army into a war not of his making.
'The Son' follows Hannibal as he fights his way out of Spain and across the Alps, and through the battles of the Ticinus, the Trebia, Lake Trasimene and Cannae against the Roman armies sent against him. The book also follows the drama of the Roman internal struggles as they faced Hannibal's invasion; the appointment of Fabius as a dictator and the subsequent bitter dispute with those who sought battle with Hannibal at any cost.
Along the way, Hannibal is crippled with wounds. He limps from a leg wound obtained under the walls of Saguntum, in Spain. He has a withered arm from the battle of the Trebia. He lost an eye crossing the flooded valley of the Arno. But, at last he stands victorious above the field of Cannae, torch in hand; ready to set the world ablaze. He has won all the battles, but can he win the war?