Dominic Sandbrook

If you can work out the formula that Hannibal applied, then hopefully you can apply that to your own age and win similarly stunning victories. And I mean, you'll know this, Dominic, as a student historian of the First World War.

that first world war generals and strategists were obsessed by can i so schlieffen is the is the kind of the famous example that he was the chief of the german general staff wasn't he in kind of before the first world war devised this the schlieffen plan or did he i mean i know it's very controversial but

that first world war generals and strategists were obsessed by can i so schlieffen is the is the kind of the famous example that he was the chief of the german general staff wasn't he in kind of before the first world war devised this the schlieffen plan or did he i mean i know it's very controversial but

that first world war generals and strategists were obsessed by can i so schlieffen is the is the kind of the famous example that he was the chief of the german general staff wasn't he in kind of before the first world war devised this the schlieffen plan or did he i mean i know it's very controversial but

But essentially, the German high command were aiming at a battle of annihilation that was consciously inspired by what Hannibal had done. And after the war, there was a collection of his essays published that just had the title, Can I? And then in the Second World War on the Eastern Front, again, lots of Hitler's generals. were obsessed with replicating Hannibal's tactics.

But essentially, the German high command were aiming at a battle of annihilation that was consciously inspired by what Hannibal had done. And after the war, there was a collection of his essays published that just had the title, Can I? And then in the Second World War on the Eastern Front, again, lots of Hitler's generals. were obsessed with replicating Hannibal's tactics.

But essentially, the German high command were aiming at a battle of annihilation that was consciously inspired by what Hannibal had done. And after the war, there was a collection of his essays published that just had the title, Can I? And then in the Second World War on the Eastern Front, again, lots of Hitler's generals. were obsessed with replicating Hannibal's tactics.

So Guderian in particular, you know, with his tanks roaring across the Eastern Front. He was very inspired by the example of the Carthaginian cavalry at Cannae. And weirdly, Americans with German names were also obsessed. So Eisenhower was obsessed by it. And more recently, Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the American forces in Desert Storm.

So Guderian in particular, you know, with his tanks roaring across the Eastern Front. He was very inspired by the example of the Carthaginian cavalry at Cannae. And weirdly, Americans with German names were also obsessed. So Eisenhower was obsessed by it. And more recently, Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the American forces in Desert Storm.

So Guderian in particular, you know, with his tanks roaring across the Eastern Front. He was very inspired by the example of the Carthaginian cavalry at Cannae. And weirdly, Americans with German names were also obsessed. So Eisenhower was obsessed by it. And more recently, Norman Schwarzkopf, who commanded the American forces in Desert Storm.

He was always going on about how his tactics and strategy there were modelled on Hannibal.

He was always going on about how his tactics and strategy there were modelled on Hannibal.

He was always going on about how his tactics and strategy there were modelled on Hannibal.

This is an amazing subject because the thing is that there is a risk with viewing Cannae as a kind of platonic ideal of a battle. Because if you abstract it, you get away from what actually makes the study of this battle, of maybe all the battles in ancient history, so compelling and so unsettling and actually terrifying.

This is an amazing subject because the thing is that there is a risk with viewing Cannae as a kind of platonic ideal of a battle. Because if you abstract it, you get away from what actually makes the study of this battle, of maybe all the battles in ancient history, so compelling and so unsettling and actually terrifying.

This is an amazing subject because the thing is that there is a risk with viewing Cannae as a kind of platonic ideal of a battle. Because if you abstract it, you get away from what actually makes the study of this battle, of maybe all the battles in ancient history, so compelling and so unsettling and actually terrifying.

Because what both Daly and Goldsworthy do in their two actually quite different books, but in one thing they're very similar, they really emphasize the physicality of warfare generally, but specifically in this battle.

Because what both Daly and Goldsworthy do in their two actually quite different books, but in one thing they're very similar, they really emphasize the physicality of warfare generally, but specifically in this battle.

Because what both Daly and Goldsworthy do in their two actually quite different books, but in one thing they're very similar, they really emphasize the physicality of warfare generally, but specifically in this battle.

And it reminds us that Cannae is a battle that is fought in the context of the much broader war that we've been talking about in this series between distinctive commanders, between distinctive... armies, cities, ways of life. And the ancient sources, and you quoted Livy, but we have Polybius as well. We have Plutarch.