His theory was largely ignored until 1955, when Gavin de Beer took up the cause. In Alps and Elephants, the first of several books that the evolutionary embryologist wrote on Hannibal ...

In an audacious manoeuvre, Hannibal led about 30,000 troops, 15,000 horses and 37 elephants across the Alps to challenge Roman power on home soil. It was very nearly a masterstroke: in a series of ...