Suru the elephant found the boy in the smouldering ruins of Saguntum after the Carthaginian army had sacked it, and Suru's driver Carthalo looked after him and taught him all he knew about elephants. Through Suru, Hannibal's favourite elephant, the boy came to know and admire this astonishing young general who planned to lead the Carthaginian army across the Alps to attack Rome.

It seemed impossible to take a large force and thirty-nine elephants over the mountains, and there were times on that terrible journey when the boy was ready to give up, but Hannibal never faltered. His courage inspired both men and animals; he led them through snow and ice, over seemingly impassable heights, through attacks from unseen enemies, until they reached the plains of Italy. But the Roman army still lay between the Carthaginians and Rome, and the struggle was not yet over. The boy was not afraid of fighting, but he was afraid of what might happen to Suru in a battle. This exciting story tells what did happen to Suru and Carthalo and to Hannibal himself, and how the boy came once more to Saguntum.

From the dust jacket