Reddit mentions of Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon

What are the best books on Hannibal (particularly ones that may have been overlooked)?

Personally I like Lazenby's Hannibal's War (for the academically inclined) and Dodge's Hannibal (for a general audience).

EDIT:

For those interested in learning more about Hannibal, here are my top picks from books actually on my book shelf:

1. Hannibal's War by J. F. Lazenby (little dry, but well documented history)
   
2. The First Punic War: A Military History by J. F. Lazenby (can't really understand Hannibal without the prelude)
   
3. The Punic Wars by Adrian Goldsworthy (dude knows more about the Roman Army than anyone)
   
4. Hannibal by Theodore Ayrault Dodge (Dodge was a Union officer in the Civil War and wrote some great books on Hannibal, Caesar, Alexander, etc. ... probably the best companion to primary source material on a first read through -- and it's out of copyright so you can find free copies online)
   
5. Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon by B. H. Liddell Hart (was Scipio the real, and somewhat overlooked, genius of the Second Punic War?)
   
   And recommendations and from /u/gevemacd :
   
   
6. Hannibal A Hellenistic Life by Eve MacDonald (/u/gevemacd herself!)
   
7. Cannae: The Experience of Battle in the Second Punic War by Gregory Daly (I haven't read this, but the slow trapping and butchery 70,000 men on a hot day seems like a fascinating topic for history as it was actually experienced)

Complete novice? Extra Credits.

Seconding the Podcasts from Carlin, "Punic Nightmares" and Duncan's History of Rome and Born Yesterday. Seriously, Duncan is amazing. Major history hard-on.

Also, the History Channel has a pretty fun website, and there aren't any pawnshop aliens American Trucker-Pickers.

And if you want to read something that was written a tad earlier, Appian's histories cover the Second Punic War in several sections: The Spanish Wars, The Hannibalic War in Europe, and The Punic War and Numidian Affairs about Scipio in Africa (he also writes about the First Punic War), Livy deals with the Second Punic War in chapters 21-25 and 26-30, Polybius uses the Punic Wars to extol (and for us, explain) Roman virtues and institutions, and Plutarch gives two Generals treatment in his Parallel Lives, Fabius and Flaminius.

Modern books, I liked Adrian Goldsworthy's [The Punic Wars] (http://www.amazon.com/The-Punic-Wars-Adrian-Goldsworthy/dp/0304352845), and had WAY too much fun reading this book about Scipio and this book about Hannibal in tandem.

Oh... after you're done with all/any of that you might want to go buy Rome Total War and play as the Scipii. Extra points if you download Europa Barbarorum. Rome 2 is out and presumably awesome (and EB2)

Unfortunately most historical resources seem to have a bias towards Hannibal so Scipio gets shortchanged. I have found Scipio Africanus - Greater Than Napoleon to be a pretty good pro Scipio analysis of his military career.

While I certainly agree that Hannibal was great, I'm not so sure that the answer is as simple as his campaign's difficulty. I'm sourcing most of my knowledge from Liddell Hart's Scipio Africanus: Greater than Napoleon, and will definitely read Hannibal's War next.

In summary, Scipio's accomplishments:

• At the age of 24, received command of Roman forces in Spain after his father and uncle's armies were both crushed separately (and both killed) in Spain. The reason he was able to do this at his age was because nobody else volunteered to do so. He proceeded to defeat 4 Carthaginian armies which outnumbered him roughly 8-1 in aggregate, and that includes his Spanish allies, which he did not trust to actually fight.
  
• Due to Senate politics he had to completely rebuild and retrain his army in Sicily prior to his African campaign. So the claim that his army was superior is dubious, imho. He was better equipped, but that was only because he raided and looted one of the largest Carthaginian stockpiles. In the earlier stages of his Africa campaign he was outnumbered over 5-1, yet shattered the Carthaginian army so completely that they had to recall Hannibal, who he then defeated at the Battle of Zama.
  
  He also had a very advanced understanding of strategy and tactics, and most of his battles are actually really interesting to read about. While Hannibal was a great general, most of his tactics were very simplistic, relying on the timidity of Roman generals, and the odds were much more even.
  
  The rest of what you said makes a lot of sense though. I guess knowledge of that era among people who aren't otherwise interested has waned considerably.

Go beyond wikipedia. You won't regret it.

http://www.amazon.com/Scipio-Africanus-Greater-Than-Napoleon/dp/0306813637

Probably the best book on the Second Punic War despite having a terrible title.

I enjoyed Scipio Africanus: Greater Than Napoleon.

I love getting the opportunity to plug my absolute favorite book

http://www.amazon.com/Scipio-Africanus-Greater-Than-Napoleon/dp/0306813637

Scipio Africanus was the man that beat Hannibal in the second Punic War. If you want a more Hannibal-centric text then I would recommend The War with Hannibal by Titus Livy, though that one was written in antiquity so you'll have to keep that in mind while reading it.

Scipio , he face HANNIBAL and defeated him and Carthage. Also, I recommend book by B.H Liddell Hart http://amzn.to/2l4sw1S which goes to an in-depth analysis of the tactics and strategies of Scipio. IMHO, Scipio is better.