Gates of Fire : An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Rating:
Summary: A stirring., visceral account of valor and sacrifice.
Review: In 480 B.C. all of western history was balanced on the spear points of three hundred men. This is a personal account of a squire to a Spartan hoplite who perished with his comrades in a stand against impossible odds. The author meticulously recreates the day-to-day life of a Spartan citizen and the training that made him unique among the Greek city states. This is not the Greece of Mary Renault who represented the best of ancient Greece through the eyes of the cultivated and cultured Athenians. This is an unsparing account of harsh realities of Spartan life and death. The author has also captured the essence of what leadership was, is, and should be in military service. Should be required reading at military academies and colleges. Pressfield has set a new standard for this genre. Once you start, you won't be able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: A culture's fight for survival
Review: This is a very fine tale of a society based on a pure moral and ethical code of honor. Men and women together intent on living by a higher physical, moral and spiritual standard. The book starts a bit slow, and the characters overall are not as deeply developed as Colleen McColluogh's are in her Roman series, but they are vivid enough. What blew me away about Pressfield's book was the final battle at Thermopylae.The writing is intense and touching, and the characters each come completely to life. He shows these men as fathers, husbands and sons who must become ultimate warriors when Sparta needs them most. He conveys the sense of what a battle in ancient times was like... the waiting, the fighting, the carnage. I really enjoyed this book.

Rating:
Summary: While worth the time and goosebumps
Review: This I believe has been the only book in a long time that had me thinking about it after I closed the book. It is a very inspirational book, feels like you could go out and fight for the honor of anything that is right. This book also made me mourn for the courgous men that gave their lives those couple of days. A very very good book.

Rating:
Summary: 2480-year-old lessons yet to be learned...
Review: Especially recommended for modern readers who may have bought into the idea that women should serve in combat, or may think that "Don't ask, don't tell" is as important as "Duty, Honor, Country." "Gates of Fire" makes the reader feel the strength of the bonds that join fighting men and enable them to perform extraordinary feats of valor. I predict that military veterans who read Pressfield's masterpiece will be heard grunting "He's got it right." And that those who have not served (nor bade farewell to fighting men departing to do battle) will better understand that war hasn't changed very much since 480 B.C., nuclear weapons and microprocessors notwithstanding.

Rating:
Summary: Epic tale of warrior courage.
Review: This is a wonderful book of the ancient world that makes it plain why our contemporary life is based on ideals for which those extraordinary people fought. It details the Spartan way of life that prepared men for battle, but contains the wisdom to prepare anyone for any difficult task. The story swings along, the characters are richly drawn. You will never forget Thermopolea. Pressfield has written a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Vivid, moving paean to the Spartan military culture
Review: Veterans of infantry combat as well as serious students of military history will enjoy this novel, which is firmly grounded in classical sources yet written in today's vernacular.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, unforgettable, thrilling.
Review: Churchill could have been referring to the Spartans at Thermopylae when he spoke his immortal words about the RAF in the Battle of Britain. "Never have so many..." Steven Pressfield manages to elicit both awe and heartfelt gratitude for a handful of brutal warriors who sacrificed their lives on a remote battlefield 2500 years ago. It is both interesting and chilling to think what might have happened to Greece, to democracy and to our civilization if they had acted in a more "reasonable" way.

Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed to send shivers of admiration up your spine.
Review: Although I have read much involving ancient Greek history, I have never come across a work of historical fiction that did this subject justice. Until now. Pressfield takes you into the training camps and barracks of the Spartans, the greatest warriors who have ever lived. You feel what it must have been like to maintain yourself in absolutely peak fighting condition. The book explains how these men were taught to endure pain and keep fear under control. And Pressfield describes the battles the Spartans fought in a manner that brings home the horror and destruction that ensued when heavily armed phalanxes glittering with the sheen of burnished steel crashed together in mortal combat. His description of Spartan valor and discipline will send shivers of admiration up your spine. This is a man's book, and one you won't soon forget.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story. Average Writing.
Review: I'll just say that Pressman's narrative style detracts from the book, as a whole. Confused, almost anarchic at times, it's clear that he's attempting to preserve the flavor of this as a 'told' story...on the other hand, it still has to be intelligible as a story...

Rating:
Summary: Laughable
Review: The author is so committed to his rather weak trope -- that of a helot retelling the story -- that he fails to construct a compelling, or even competetant narrative. It IS a great story, but that doesn't save this book.