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Feb 11, 2008

Randy rated it:

Gates of Fire is one of my favorite books...ever. I first read it back when I was in the Marine Corps. It was on the Commandant’s Reading List for a time - required reading for any motivated teufelhund. The author himself is a former Marine, and draws upon his experiences to create a compellingly insightful look at the mental and psychological makeup of a soldier. The concepts of self-sacrifice, service, community, camaraderie, and duty are the thematic core of this historic novel. Steven Pressfield More...

5 comments like (15 people liked it)

Oct 10, 2007

Richard rated it:

Steven Pressfield's first foray into historical fiction is a masterful account of the battle of Themopylae (thermos = hot, warm, fire; pylos = spring or gate; hence "Gates of Fire").

Told from the perspective of a captured, critically wounded Spartan helot (all the Spartans died, after all) who is being questioned by Xerxes (King of Persia) for information about the Greeks, the story presents a sympathetic, insider view of Spartan society and accurately presents the values o More...

1 comment like (8 people liked it)

Oct 04, 2011

Wægmunding rated it:

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1 comment like (4 people liked it)

Nov 16, 2011

Terri rated it:

What can I say about this book that hasn't already been said here on it's review page...ah, not much. :-)
It is a terrific book. Dense, and detailed and clever and, in many places, exhilarating. Sometimes I felt that the author was being too clever. Sacrificing flow for sometimes not so relevant story background. There is quite a lot of too-ing and fro-ing in this book. Jumping backwards and forwards between different times and sometimes it worked for me and sometimes it didn't. That is why More...

0 comments like (3 people liked it)

Jul 20, 2008

Smokey rated it:

Soldiers are philosophers by trade, as opposed to nature. Whether they are gifted logicians or readers or not, their profession demands a close association with death and life, fear and courage, love and hate, joy and sorrow. A soldier gets acquainted with these, not as abstract ideas, but as intimate realities which are a part of the day-to-day environment.

When faced with such larger-than-life concepts, though, words often fail, no matter how important or meaningful a place they hol More...

6 comments like (4 people liked it)

Nov 09, 2011

David rated it:

I read this entertaining 1998 historical novel, which glorifies the ancient military dictatorship of Sparta, in part because it cost only $7.99 for a Kindle download. Then I realized that I couldn't write a coherent review of it, because I still, in spite of the intervening years, am an incandescent tower of blistering but impotent rage at the senseless loss of life and treasure which resulted from the blunderings of the George W. Bush administration in the Middle East in the first decade of thi More...

1 comment like (3 people liked it)

Apr 30, 2008

Cranky rated it:

I chose this book reluctantly from my library's audiobook shelf. I thought I should read it because my knowledge of ancient history was pretty gap-filled, and because at some point I'm planning to rent "300" and this would be good background. I always pick up books I "should" read with grudging feelings.

Well. I was foolish to have hesitated over it, because this book is excellent. I'm just a few tracks from the end, and I feel wrecked by it. Knowing the outco More...

0 comments like (6 people liked it)

Jul 16, 2007

Max rated it:

There are few subjects more naturally interesting than the contrasting / co-existing / conflicting (most of the time) societies of Athens and Sparta.

Athens, having all the good authors, good architects, good artists, good philosophers, etc. has tended to get portrayed pretty well.

Maybe it is just my ignorance, but this is the first thing I read which dealt at length and basically lovingly (in a violent sort of way; this is Sparta after all) with Sparta. I thought the More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Jan 10, 2009

Ross rated it:

The action is a pulse-pounding, intense-type awesome whirlwind that will make history rise from the ashes of ages past, grab you by the throat, and shake the hell out of you. But it is much more than that. This novel is epic in a real sense, in that sense of choosing to be swept up into a world much larger than the selfishness of personal endeavors. It inspires thought.
The graphic novel/movie 300 was based heavily on this book and they were more about telling the myth that became of the ba More...

0 comments like (2 people liked it)

Jan 18, 2008

Matt rated it:

Everyone should read this book in order to gain an understanding of what it really means to love and be committed to ones country. All military leaders should read it and pay attention to the Leadership of the Spartan Army. Technology has not changed the necessity for strong leaders in the modern Army. The Spartan officers put their Soldiers first and led from the front. They suffered with their Soldiers, receiving no special preference for their rank, only more responsibility. The Spartan More...

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 31, 2012

Ensiform rated it:

After the battle of Thermopylae, a foreign-born Spartan squire named Xeones is found by the Persians, gravely wounded but alive. Xerxes, wishing to know what kind of people the Spartans might be, who at hundreds strong could slay thousands of enemies in a valiant suicide mission, has the squire try to explain this. Xeones tells this tale, but a more personal one as well: the sacking of his town, his unrequited love for his cousin, his rise up the Spartan ranks, the cruelty of the Spartan schoo More...

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Dec 14, 2011

Dawn (& Ron) rated it:

One of our favorite reads! It is one we often loan out and it always seems to strike a chord with everyone we have lent it to. So much so, our original copy never made it back home to us forcing us to pick up another one recently. After all we have to have it on hand to loan out, don't we? Our friend's 13 year old son is next.

We can't say why is it such a popular read, only that it is compelling, gut wrenching, mind searing battle scenes and simply, moving. It is moving in how it sho More...

3 comments like (1 person liked it)

Nov 06, 2011

John rated it:

Pressfield's Gates of Fire is one the best historical novels of ancient Greece and the Battle of Thermopylae ever written! Told through the eyes of the sole Spartan survivor (squire) of the battle to King Xerxes of Persia after the fact, it describes the unique Spartan sense of values that resulted in 300 of its elite hoplites to stand and die against half a million Persians. Xerxes was anxious to find out what motivated such men to perish rather than surrender and Xeones, the slave-squire, de More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Apr 23, 2011

Nancy rated it:

Gates of Fire is an historical fiction novel that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a Spartan Helot and the sole Greek survivor of the battle. At Thermopylae, the allied Greek nations deployed a small force of between four and seven thousand Greek heavy infantry against the invading Persian army of two million. Leading the Greeks was a force of three hundred Spartans.
Thermopylae was the only way into Greece for the Persian army, and presented the perfect choke point — a na More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Mar 22, 2010

Tyson rated it:

Pressfield's fictionalized re-telling of the Battle of Thermopylae is an inspiring read if you are facing a large, insurmountable challenge.

Also, Gates of Fire goes much deeper than the Hollywood version re-told in "300." The book captures much more of the Spartan cultural elements and a broader look at the polis, an early precursor to republican government.

The training, discipline, and skill developed by the Spartan warriors from an early childhood and the se More...

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Sep 16, 2009

Mukesh rated it:

This book is amazing. I highly reccomend it to anyone. To me, it really clarifies what suffering means. People complain about how they have too much homework, or how their favorite show is canceled. I'm guilty of things like this too. However, the warriors in this book take spear wounds through both shoulders, and they keep fighting, they lose an eye, and they don't stop to treat it or see how bad it is until the battle is over. War sucks, and these people live and breathe war. These are More...

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Jul 27, 2009

Roy rated it:

I must admit that I became interested in the topic of the Battle of Thermopylae after seeing the movie 300, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. I know, not the most gloriously intellectual path to take to a historic novel.

Pressfield’s book does a good job of rendering ancient Greece, not just military practices, but society and daily life. Though the Spartans don’t have any great technology past the sword and the plow, theirs is a society t More...

0 comments like

Jun 13, 2009

Trevor rated it:

This was an interesting book. I wasn’t sure what to expect from it and had thought it would be a book of history, but was actually a work of historical fiction. It was well told and, from what I know, an accurate enough telling of the story of the 300. Herodotus also tells this story in his histories and it is hardly surprising that a tale of so few holding off an army of so many should be remembered as one of the great military stories of all time. This one is told through the eyes of a cap More...

2 comments like (4 people liked it)

Dec 10, 2010

Vidal rated it:

I have always been fascinated by the story of the Spartans since I was a kid, and thought it would be fun to get lost in a war story from that era. But this book is much more than just a bit of escapism and fun, this book really grabs you and gets you involved and it has a direct line to your emotions. At various times I was smiling and chuckling, or gripping my fists tight in anxiety or even choking back tears of pride and admiration at the incredible exploits of these heroes from days gone by. More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 28, 2009

James rated it:

Gates Of Fire was a great book by Steven Pressfiled about the few Spartans that fought off a million Persians in the battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. What I really liked about this book was how vividly Pressfiled described the battle sequences throught the novel and how he seemed to be able to bring them to life right out of the pages. The main reason I was atrracted to this book was after watching and loving the movie 300 I wanted to explore the life of Greece,Spartans, and the legendar More...

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Aug 21, 2010

Mark rated it:

It's been a while since I read a novel that truly fit the old cliche "page turner." I can truly say, though, that I only ever put my copy of Gates of Fire down because of the necessities of life. It gripped me from page one and did not let go.

Gates of Fire is so much more than an attempt to recreate the legendary last stand of a handful of Spartan warriors against multitudes of Persian invaders, though it accomplishes that task beautifully. It also manages to serve as a phi More...

2 comments like (1 person liked it)

May 25, 2010

Zohar - ManOfLaBook.com rated it:

I like this book, the style is sharp, the story vivid, the history pretty accurate, and the moral dilemmas are still relevant in today's military units.
I loved to read about the problems facing the Spartan King and his army commanders, the soldiers and their servants. The books is a fictional account of those who are about to die, know it, and still go forward contemplating life's big mysteries and gaining appreciation for their comrades, and those they left behind.

The proble More...

0 comments like

Apr 19, 2010

Arun rated it:

The battle of Thermopylae is a shining example of team work and defiance that history can ever give us. Ever since I watched Zack Snyder's '300' I have wondered what a de-glorified version of the battle would have looked like. Most of my questions were answered in the pages of this book.

Three Hundred of the best trained soldiers and their allies holding a mountain pass against a multitude of the enemy numbering to the millions. This to preserve the sanctity of their homelands and so More...

0 comments like

Jan 04, 2012

Katie rated it:

This book was a recommendation from a trusted friend. I say that both because it's the only reason I made it past the first couple chapters and because I'm grateful to that friend for recommending it.

This isn't the type of story I would normally gravitate to, it was very...male. A lot about what honor meant, and the camaraderie of brothers at arms. BUT as I got into the story I really liked the way the author used a singular narrator's tale to weave it together. This is what held my i More...

0 comments like

Sep 13, 2009

David rated it:

This is a marvelous piece of historical fiction about the Spartans, with particular attention given to their extraordinary battle at Thermopylae. The book has fantastic character development and gives great insight into the "Spartan mindset". One such gem was the Spartan conception of Kingship: "I will tell His Majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they More...

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Feb 15, 2010

Stan rated it:

Highly recommended to me, but highly disappointing. This is a romanticized historical fictional account of the Spartans' stand at Thermopylae against the massively superior forces of Xerxes. It does offer a depiction of the warrior culture of Sparta. But the writing: trite, tedious, melodramatic, sometimes overly flowery faux archaic, and at others base sixth grade genital/excrement humor. One of the major humor touchstones was a character whose catchphrase was "Wake up to this", whic More...

0 comments like (1 person liked it)

Dec 01, 2008

Tad rated it:

My reason for helping launch a "book club for men" in my neighborhood was to find books I would love but wouldn't stumble across on my own.
Bingo. "Gates of Fire" is a fantastic book, but it's not something I ever would have picked up without the prodding of our group. I haven't previously embraced historical fiction, but this account of the subject matter of the recent movie "300," the Battle of Thermopylae, is much, much more than the story of how 300 S More...

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May 15, 2008

Marcelle rated it:

This book is so moving, so inspiring. It is about more then sacrafice and honor, it is about what it means to be a part of something. A city, a country.
No only men who fight are charactized as brave, but the women who give birth, raise, then send off to war are considered brave, tough, virtous for the role they play in society.

1 comment like (1 person liked it)

Jan 13, 2012

Dale rated it:

I know I have little or nothing to add that has not already been said...

...but I'll try.

First and foremost - Gates of Fire is a top-notch bit of writing. It is one of the better books that I have read and is a fantastic example of the value of historical fiction. Pressfield takes the Spartans and makes them real. He takes their struggle for independence against a world-shaking power and makes it not just an academic enterprise, but something the reader becomes invested in. He More...

0 comments like

Dec 12, 2009

Micheal rated it:

Having strayed from novels in recent years, GATES OF FIRE has brought me back to fiction. I was inspired to study ancient Sparta as I read and found Steven Pressfields interpretation in sync with what little is actually known about these elite warriors. As a former Service member I am a proponent of the concept of honorable soldiering and aspiring to the highest ideals of brotherhood under duress.

I also liked the whole setup, with the two young characters preceding the appear More...

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