Theodore Ayrault Dodge

[The Czar]

I just picked up Hannibal by the aforementioned author, and am blown away. What a great military history!

Dodge fought in the Union army after having studied at a Prussian military school. He wrote multivolume works on the "great generals" (Alexander, Hannibal, Caesar, Gustavus Adolphus, Napoleon).

For the Hannibal book, he actually traveled to Spain and traveled the route of Hannibal's army through the Alps, inspecting each pass personally.

I'm only a few chapters in, but the detail of information is staggering... I highly recommend his books for any author thinking of writing military HF in the applicable period... he goes into great detail concerning the makeup, leadership, armaments, tactics, etc. of each army. For example, I have gained a greater understanding of the difference between the Greek style Phalanx and the early Roman Legion from his book so far.

Anybody else read him? I just have a one volume "Barnes and Noble" edition of his hannibal, but I definitely want to read the others now!