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Summary: Pressfield is he who knows of war and men
Review: Like Pressfield, I am also he who knows of war and men. I am a U.S. soldier who follows the code of the warrior, and I am also an ex-law enforcement officer and a mulitple black belt martial artist as well as a poet novelist. I am also a gay man who understands exactly how close the Greek warriors were to each other when they fought the foe. Pressfield has captured the closeness of the day and also nighttime face-to-face encounters of men who fight the wars that keep us free. This novel cannot be criticized for it is a greater work than the classics of yore. If you are a soldier or have other qualifications like I do then you will shiver and weep as you read this novel. After reading it you will stand at attention and give a perfect hand salute with tears in your eyes in honor of the Spartans who saved the western world.
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Summary: An experience into a world unkown to us
Review: You open the book and are captivated by the first page. Incredibly written with much detail and accuracy, this book sends you into a world unknow to anyone previously. I have read this book twice, and each time it has meant something different to me, the same sentences effecting my life in different ways. I am a writer and a poet, and since I am currently writing a novel, I understand how hard it is to write and how much time and effort, patience and love Mr. Pressfield must have put into this book. The style of the book takes our world today and introduces to teh Ancient Spartan World through the eyes of a commoner, a person just like us. Not only a novel about war, love, hated, peace, and self-sacrifice, this novel is about us, about the opression of the middle class, about how the world should be. As the story closes to the end, you are left with an unforgetable poem at the end, which I have memoraized. Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, That here obidient to their laws we lie.
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Summary: A disappointment
Review: This book disappointed me. It is not written with the same quality as recent historical fiction like Cold Mountain, The Year of Jubilo, Gone for Soldiers, etc. Not to be recommended.
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Summary: Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae
Review: This book was absolutely wonderful. From the first page I was hooked by the captivating story. Gates of Fire was writen beautifully and wtih such detail I felt like I was right there. I loved how the characters were brought to life with pure emotion and heart. This was a terrific book and i would recommend it to anyone.
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Summary: Hoplite's Eye View of Thermopylae
Review: Steven Pressfield does an excellent job of bringing the terror and exhilaration of close quarters combat to life. He does an especially good job of detailing the afermath of such moments. As a martial artist, former police officer and soldier I have experienced such moments. Mr. Pressfield uses what might be 'modern' terms and expressions to help bring the life of the Spartan soldiers closer to the modern reader. True, some of the brutality of Spartan life is skimmed over. However, the story is told from the view point of one born into brutality. Such conditions are alien to most modern readers. Mr. Pressfield focuses on the warrior and his craft. Outstanding job, Mr. Pressfield.
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Summary: Unsparing truth about war and society in ancient Greece
Review: If this novel doesn't resonate with veterans of infantry combat as well as classicists and serious students of military history, I'll hang up my keyboard. Remember that old TV series, "You Are There?" Well, you are.
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Summary: EMOTIONAL on par with the originals of Greek Tales
Review: In my youth I was enraptured by the Greek myths. Tales of Honor, Valor and Courage were moving and have survived these thousands of years. Stephen Pressfield has captured the heart of that tale telling with his Gates of Fire. Never have I read a book that has left me so emotionally spent. His quest into courage covers all peoples including all classes and both sexes. From his battle scene epics to his salon discussions and background narratives he delves into the meaning of courage, valor, and honor. His hero, Xeo, gives meaning to kings, warriors, and all who make possible the defending of an ideal. Everyone should read this book.
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Summary: Good in some respects...
Review: In my opinion if this book makes a reader get misty-eyed or start thumping his chest over issues of "fighting for freedom", that is coming from the reader and not the author. The author's handling of Spartan psyche and ethos is simplistic and rather clumsy. The scenes in which women and warriors make speeches about war and sacrifice are laughably stilted and cartoonish, like the things you see in old war B-movies. If one does take this book a something more than an action-thriller (in this regard it is a success), it's an old tale. The "let's go to war, boys!" rah-rah-rah is exactly the message used throughout history by old men to sucker young men into going off to war. Then the young men die or are maimed or can't sleep at night after the war, and the old men sit in their lounge chairs, get fat, vote against services to help the young men, read books and get tears over the "noble sacrifice" of war. Any good, accurate and complete account of war will make you feel horrible. In contrast, this book is a rousing account of battlefield mayhem. Excellent action reading, but that's all.
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Summary: Why we fight.
Review: I will start by saying that this is one of the best books I have ever read, at any time about any subject. I have it on a recommended reading list for my students, and have given it as a gift to several friends. It is not, at the last, a book about war, nor a book about the Spartan 's epic stand at Thermopylae. It is a book about why, down through our history as a species, we have always been able to find men (and women) who will put aside their personal comfort and who and what they love, and stand in the gap to protect these from that which would destroy them, risking all to do so. It is a book that honors those who have made and will in the future make this sacrifice. Contrary to the opinions expressed by other reviewers it does not glorify war, any more than firemen glorify fires. Rather, it explains in glorious terms why we have soldiers, police officers, and others who belong to the fraternity that bears the burden for preserving their societies and ways of life. Being a combat veteran, I found the battle scenes gritty and moving and in some cases a bit reminiscent. The passages on the re-uniting of the "tickets" and shedding of fear brought back memories. The book is a pointed reminder of a fact that has escaped many in our present society .. freedom has NEVER been free. It has always been purchased for the many by the few. And those few ... not war ... most surely need to be honored. As clearly stated by the character Dienekes: "You have never been free, friend ... or you would understand that freedom is purchased not with gold, but with steel." God bless those who have paid that price. This book is their testimonial.
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Summary: An insight into Greek Warriors of old.
Review: This was the first Pressfield book I have read, and I enjoyed it enormously. The battle depictions coupled with his style of writing allowed me to get into the soul of the Spartan, and forced me stay up till the early hours on a number of nights until I finished this book. Despite the mixed reviews coming in for "Tides of War" I will certainly be purchasing that book, if nothing more than to support Pressfield for this excellent effort.
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