Maarten Inghels, artist and writer, sets out to follow in the footsteps of Hannibal Barcas, who in 218 BC crossed the Alps with thirty-seven elephants to strike the Roman enemy from behind. Scholars have debated for centuries which Alpine pass Hannibal took, and countless adventurers have sought to relive this mythical trek.

What drove these men to lead elephants into the mountains in the wake of the famed general? And is not adventure itself a privileged form of escape? Picking up the elephant Gideon from the Lyon Zoo, Inghels embarks on the extraordinary crossing himself, blending imagination, history, and artistic vision along the way.