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Summary: Cracking good yarn about the Spartans who held the pass
Review: A Special Forces veteran I'd met in Vietnam sent me this book because we both had something to do with the Burt Lancaster film "Go Tell the Spartans". (I wrote the novel it was based on, and he was one of the guys who took me to the garrison that inspired the story.) I started reading it just to be a good sport. I finished it in two days, and I'm completely wrung out. It's a masterpiece of historical fiction and a thoughtful study of the meaning of courage.
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Summary: Unbelievably impressive
Review: Once in a while you get along a book that really stuns you. That has not happened to me often in the last 10 years (with George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones the notable exception), but this one really did. I cannot believe how much care and work has gone into researching the book and besides delivering the facts it succeeds in writing style and the action never lets go. An ideal book for anyone interested in history.
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Summary: go tell the Spartans
Review: In 480 BC, King Xerxes lead a Persian army of between one and two million into Greece. The Spartan King Leonidas lead 300 Knights ans some 700 Thespaian allies to the narrow pass at Thermopylae, in order to hold the Persians back as long as possible. They proceeded to hold the pass for 7 days. These 300 Spartans died to a man defending the pass against a force of over a million and the epitaph provided to them by the poet Simonides, "Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie", is perhaps the most famous in history. Their example rallied and inspired all of Greece and eventually the Persians were defeated in the naval battle at Salamis and on land at Plataea. Pressfield (whose only previous novel was the, by all accounts wretched, golf story The Legend of Bagger Vance) has taken this story and created a novel that is not only a brilliant recreation of Ancient Greece, but can also stand beside The Killer Angels (1974)(Michael Shaara 1929-1988) (Grade: A+) as one of the great war novels of all time. The story is told from the point of view of Xeones of Astakos, supposedly the sole survivor among the Spartans, who Xerxes has tell his story to the court historian Gobartes. Xeones starts with the tale of how he came to Sparta. As a youth, his village of Astakos is destroyed and his family slaughtered, but he and the cousin he loves, Diomache, escape. As they wander the countryside, Diomache is raped by soldiers and Xeones is crucified after stealing a chicken, although Diomache saves him from death. Thrown into despair, because his hands are so damaged that he can never wield a sword, Xeones heads off by himself to die. But he experiences a visitation from the Archer god Apollo Far Striker and realizes he can still wield a bow. When Diomache, who is also distraught after being violated by the soldiers, takes off, Xeones heads to Sparta where he hopes to join the army. The middle section of the book, which I found interesting but slow, deals with his life in Sparta and the training techniques used by the Spartans to create what was one of the most formidable fighting forces the world has ever seen. Eventually he becomes the squire of one of the 300 knights who are chosen for Thermopylae. The final section, on the battle itself, depicts wholesale slaughter accompanied by acts of ineffable courage. It also relates two of the great lines of all time. When Xerxes offers to spare the Spartans lives if they will surrender their arms, Leonidas is reputed to have snarled, "come and get them." And upon being told that the Persians have so many bowmen that the cloud of arrows would blot out the sun, one of the Spartans says, "good, then we'll have our battle in the shade." Having just read The Thin Red Line , where James Jones presents war as a fundamentally nonsensical and tedious exercise, it was a real joy to read this book. Pressfield captures the romantic side of war (recall Robert E. Lee's comment, "It is good War is so horrible else we would come to love it too much") by relating the true history of the Spartans awesome sacrifice. In two of my favorite passages, he explains: (1) why this sacrifice is so beautiful to us, "In one way only have the gods permitted mortals to surpass them. Man may give that which the gods cannot, all he possesses, his life"; and (2) why men fight, "Forget country. Forget king. Forget wife and children and freedom. Forget every concept, however noble, that you imagine you fight for here today. Act for this alone: for the man who stands at your shoulder." I can not recommend this one highly enough. Read it. GRADE: A+
Rating: 
Summary: Great, entertaining read
Review: A lot of things really come together to make this book entertaining: an excellent, authentic historical setting; a gripping story; engaging characters; and excellent writing. Mr. Pressfield really brings these ancient characters to life with a sense of persepective that feels honest - by the end of the book Alexandros, Polynikes, Dienekes, "Rooster", and the rest are tremendously well-developed, intelligent, and real characters. You may not symapthise with them; these are, after all, bloody-minded Spartans living in a violent world - but this gives them some authenticity. These are not the characters of some of the later Colleen McCullogh "Masters of Rome" entries, who often just feel like 20th Century Americans in an ancient setting. Gates of Fire offers a real glimpse into Spartan culture. Combine this with an epic and detailed historical setting (Thermopolyae and the attendant ascencion of the Greeks over the Persians) and a writing style that is crisp but intelligent and extremely readable, and you have a book that comes highly reccomended. Now, I'll grant you that occasionally the plot is a little hokey, as other reviewers have commented on; the secret of Leonidis that is revealed at the end got a kind of "uh ... yeah" chuckle from me, and Dienekes intellectual study of fear occasionally didn't wash. But these are rare moments and somewhat orthogonal to what is outstanding about the book. This is great historical fiction, up there with the First Man in Rome and I, Claudius. The book is written from the perspective of Xeones, the sole Spartan survivor of Thermopolyae, telling his life story to a Persian historian. There is a nice touch at the end, in which the Persian historian finally actually meets a character ("Rooster") from Xeones' narrative and has to reconcile the fact that Rooster is perhaps not exactly as Xeones described him. It's just a passing moment in the story, but I thought it was a nice touch, a note of Mr. Pressman's respect for history.
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Summary: TRYING TO COPY
Review: Presfiled tried here to copy David Gemmel's outstanding "LION OF MACEDON". But he didn't. Gemmel's book is much, much better.
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Summary: SOMETIMES GOOD, SOMETIMES SILLY
Review: Pressfield is really a good writer, but the approach chosen to tell the legenday Thermopylae Battle is sometimes mistaken. The idea of saying that Leonidas chose the Three Hundred based on their wives's courage, is absurd ( but original ). There are some paralels plots that could be better ( Deomache's romance with Xeones, Rooster). Even Polynikes, the most fearless of them all, could have been more explored. Anyway, good enternainment, nothing more than that.
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Summary: GOOD, BUT NOT A MASTERPIECE AT ALL !
Review: THis book is good reading, but not the masterpiece some reviewers said it is ! Not at all ! There are a lot of flaws in it ( I'm not meaning historically, but in writing style). The battle sequences are great; the idea of a squire survivng the battle and being hold captive by the Persians is great. But sometimes the books is lost in old cliches, like the plot involving Xeones and his old cousin, Deomache. It's totally useless to the history. The chapters are divided according to the most utilyzed character in it. In the chapter called "Polynikes", the great champion almost doesn't appear at all ! ANyway, it's fun to read. Better than Gemmell, for sure !
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Summary: The Best War Book Ever
Review: I coulnd't put it down once I picked it up. Easily, the best war story ever told.
Rating:
Summary: Could Not Put It Down
Review: An exciting, one sitting read that tells the tale of 300 of Sparta's best warriors and a few thousand allies as they valiantly sacrifice their lives to slow down an overwhelming force of invading Persians in a narrow mountain pass. After reading the gory and heroic account of these idealistic warriors, I experienced feelings of regret for having missed out on the frenzy of hacking, disemboweling, limb rending carnage, and camaraderie that was the order of the day. I mean I was really ready for a fight. The fact is, that although I have a real love of humanity, and am sometimes overwhelmed with sadness at the costs of war--especially when I see movies like, Saving Private Ryan--I still can't help but get caught up in glorified accounts of war like Gates of Fire. And that bothers me. Part of the reason it bothers me, is that-as a veteran-I should know better. This book gives you a historical glimpse at the mentality, culture, and idealism that would be required to mold a force like the one that stood, fought, and died at Thermopylae in 480 BC. I heartily recommend it to any student of history, honor, war, or adventure. If you have not already done so, I would also recommend reading Catch-22, All Quiet on the Western Front, and Johnny Got His Gun, for a less idealized perspective of war.
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Summary: Leadership, patriotism, and physical courage
Review: As an Army officer, I have found that leadership is a trait that is so easy to see, yet so difficult to put into words. The examples of outstanding leadership in this book shows exactly what yesterday's and today's soldier looks up to. Also, the absolute physical courage of these men is phenomenal. Their patriotism in the face of certain death was an inspiration to their fellow citizens. An outstanding read for a true time of greatness in the history of mankind. If you enjoy military history, historical fiction, or books that show the development of leaders and soldiers, i.e. Killer Angels, Ender's Game, or Starship Troopers -- then this is a book you'll truly enjoy.
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