Rating: 
Summary: Dull, poorly crafted
Review: First 100 pages reads like a methodical account of unremarkable events told through three different narrators. Falls flat. When I was able to understand what was happening it still wasn't clear why it was important. If you enjoyed the stiff pompous dialogue and starry-eyed hero-worship of Gates of Fire, you'll get more of it here. But don't come to this book for the same gripping emphasis on battles. See one early reviewer for an account of notable physical improbabilities and just plain sloppy writing. This book lacks focus, doesn't hold together.
Rating:
Summary: GOOD, BUT NOT AS GOOD AQS GATES OF FIRE!
Review: This new book by Steve Pressfield is not bad, but not bad is also saying not good. It is somewhere in the middle. Pressfield's previous greek epic, Gates of Fire was far better. A much more compelling story better told. This new book has three levels of narration and does not seem as smooth as the prior book. None of the characters really shine through, including the leads. The book is worth the read but be prepared to be disapointed if you expected another Gates of Fire. My advice? Wait for the paperback.
Rating:
Summary: The Tides of Ware Is A Real Bore!
Review: Having been captivated by 'Gates of Fire,' my anticipation of another brilliant Pressfield Greek epic crumbled within fifty page. Trust me, the story and characters were rich. Alcibiades is probably the most complex character among the ancients. We get to see him from friend, foe and from his own words. Some of the battle descriptions, especially at Syracuse, are chilling.So what's wrong? It'sthe voice! Pressfield attempted to narrate in a grueling dialect. This murderous attempt on phonetic accuracy puts a spear into the pace and robs the suspension of disbelief. Rather than absorb myself into the Spartan lifestyle or Athens democracy, all I hear is Pressfield yelling "I speak Greek." Oh well, there is always Alexander the Great, Mr. Pressfield. Please tell the story next time!
Rating: 
Summary: A slip from Gates of Fire
Review: Pressfield has been here before and proved himself able. As in Gates of Fire, the author is able to conjure the visceral world of ancient warfare . However, the Tides of War falls short of his previous effort for several reasons. Though there can be no doubt that war was often fought as much for honor as for territorial acquisition, Pressfield fails to convince as to exactly how such an appreciation of war might outlive the first taste of carnage. Again, when Pressfield nails a metaphor, you can glimpse Homer, when he fails, you're tempted to break into laughter. In the end, if you're going to write historical books that deal with particularly bloody moments in history, surely the better bet is to present the carnage and leave the reader to interpret it. In the last months, both Rambaud's The Battle and Griffin's The Requiem Shark have achieved this. Pressfield, for the moment, seems to have run out of steam, his characters undoubtedly flatter than in his previous novel. I suspect that we'll be presented with a third of his Greek sword and sandals within a year or two. Perhaps he'll return to the glories of Gates of Fire, or perhaps his pen will get the better of him and we'll be swamped in purple prose.
Rating: 
Summary: A Worthy Successor to Mary Renault
Review: Courage is a theme in Mr. Pressfield's books. It's also a characteristic he possesses in great measure as a writer, as is evident in this story of Alcibiades. It is both stylistically and thematically more complex than his story of the Three Hundred. He employs a double frame story of the grandson, his heroic grandfather Jason, and Polemon, the gentleman turned mercenary turned assassin who is simultaneously Alcibiades' friend and enemy AND the narrator of most of the book. And what a book! Here, Pressfield hunts over territory that Mary Renault covers so lyrically in THE LAST OF THE WINE: the destruction of the Herms, the disaster at Syracuse, the life of Socrates, with mentions of the events at Messenia and Melos. Where Renault is spare and lyrical, Pressfield is stark and violent and even more audacious. This time, he deals with sailors and marines, and the evocation of the sea -- wine-dark or dark with blood and storms -- calls out the Homer-worshipper in him. One entire chapter is a catalogue of ships like the one in the ILIAD, while Polemon is as crafty as Odysseus, and Jason, his reluctant advocate, like something out of an elder age. Here too are remarkable women, passionate and honorable and as violent as their men. And here too is the land of Greece, with the loyalty down to the last olive tree, vine, and clod of earth. I never thought I would agree with Mr. Gingrich on anything, but he's written a -fine- review here.
Rating:
Summary: Not as good as the gate of fire
Review: Well, I love "gate of fire", which is probably among the top ten books I have read in my life. "Tides of the war" cannot live up with that, probably beacause scope of the war and the time frame were dragging long. It is very hard to use first person tale to describe the complex military and political situation during Peloponnesian War. That is why the book is caught in between, neither it was a good story tale from a microscopic point of one person, nor it is good in the sense of retelling history in macroscopic way. It is still a very good book to read, but compare to "gates of fire", you will probably be disappointed.
Rating:
Summary: PRESSFIELD'S BOOKS CHALLENGE HOMER IN QUALITY
Review: When I read GATES OF FIRE, the author brought this old soldier on an emotional level into the lines at Thermopolis, manned by the Spartans, engaged in a hopeless fight. Having read a new translation of Homer's ILIAD a few months previously, I think the two works compare favorably in a beautiful writing style. Now, THE TIDES OF WAR is equally well written. The Pelloponnesian War was a time of great violence in Greece and political unrest in Athens. Political and underhanded tricks were played just as they have been in American politics, particularly in the past 40 years. The difference is that when Alcibiades played them, he risked his life and lost. Author Pressfield has woven a riveting story of this time of great strife, and he draws the reader into it on at every level, psychological, intellectual and emotional.
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to like it!
Review: I was very excited to get this book and believed I was going to like it very much. However, I was sorely disappointed. This book had no real characterization like in Gates of Fire. I did not come to love the characters; to sympathize with them. If I were to rate this on the content, the history and the materials, I would give it 5 stars because the history is very interesting. Unfortunately I am writing this on the writing which did not impress me. Though I still believe that Mr. Pressfield is a great writer and still continues to be!
Rating:
Summary: This is no Gates of Fire
Review: If you don't like reading textbooks, stay away from this one. What a disappointment after Gates of Fire! Though it does have a few good parts, the books mostly drags on and on about the most inane details of Greek history. I don't understand the shift in style; Pressfield should have stuck with what worked before.
Rating:
Summary: A long run for a short slide
Review: I just can't get my head around this. I thought it would be engaging but that is not the case. I finished this book was by sheer willpower. It fails to deliver any power right up to the end. Oh well, I didn't have any great expectations for this book and was not disappointed. You can live without reading this book.
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