book data
1,675 ratings,
4.30
average rating, 335 reviews
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published
September 27th 2005
(first published 1998)
by Bantam
binding
Paperback, 400 pages
characters
setting
Greece
isbn
055338368X
(isbn13: 9780553383683)
description
Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie.
Thus reads an ancient stone at Thermopylae in northern Greece, th
...more
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avg 4.30
editions: all | this edition
editions: all | this edition
Read in January, 1991
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
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Read in April, 2000
recommends it for:
Those interested in Greek History, Military History, Historical Fiction
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
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
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Read in July, 2008
recommended to Smokey by:
Gift from a friend recommends it for: Service members and those who wish to understand them
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
When faced with such larger-than-life concepts, though, words often fail, no matter how important or meaningful a place they hol...more
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6 comments
Read in November, 2008
There I've finished it *loud triumphant music.*
I had to read this book for a Global class and the moment Sparta and Thermopylae were mentionesd I could feel the resentment rising in the pit of my stomach. I have nothing personal against the Spartans, except that battle strategies and armorments are not as interesting as they may sound.
I wasn't impressed with the lengthy descriptions of violence in the book. Mind you, I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan... but no one really needs e...more
I had to read this book for a Global class and the moment Sparta and Thermopylae were mentionesd I could feel the resentment rising in the pit of my stomach. I have nothing personal against the Spartans, except that battle strategies and armorments are not as interesting as they may sound.
I wasn't impressed with the lengthy descriptions of violence in the book. Mind you, I'm a huge Lord of the Rings fan... but no one really needs e...more
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17 comments
Read in April, 2008
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
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
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Read in July, 2007
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
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
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Read in May, 2007
It's not "300' and that's a good thing. Steven Pressfield's "Gates" follows the events of the Battle of Thermopylae as described by Herodotus closely. He provides a landscape of Spartan daily life through the recollections of a squire, mortally wounded in the battle. The depictions of Spartan life made in the book are mostly accurate, though Pressfield largely overlooks the extent of state-sponsored pederasty, which was a staple of Spartan society, something that Miller ignore...more
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Read in March, 2008
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
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
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recommends it for:
everyone/especially military
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
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recommended to Trevor by:
Richard
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 c...more
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Read in November, 2008
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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Read in April, 2009
Gates of Fire is not generally the type of book I choose to read, but I had to read for a class. It took me nearly 150 pages to become interested, and that only lasted about another 100 pages or so. I felt that the descriptions were very long and drawnout, and most seemed unnecessary. I wasn't fond of how the book kept going back and forth between past, present, and even farther past.
With all that said, I did enjoy the story. I liked the fact that Xeones, a foreigner to the Spa...more
With all that said, I did enjoy the story. I liked the fact that Xeones, a foreigner to the Spa...more
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Read in November, 2008
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
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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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.
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.
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I generally have three basic needs from a book. Let's run through the checklist here for this book.
Violence? Check.
Plot? Check.
Realistic dialogue? Check.
That pretty much covers it here.
Violence? Check.
Plot? Check.
Realistic dialogue? Check.
That pretty much covers it here.
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Read in May, 2007
I'd just seen 300 at the cinema and I was eager to find out more about Thermopylae, so I ordered this book. What a find! It's a tremendous read, building up to the most definitive retelling of a famous battle that I've encountered. It's also even better than the film!
Pressfield has a great eye for historical detail and his emphasis on the starkness of Spartan life makes for intriguing reading. The last part of the book is the battle itself and totally mind-blowing; the finest thing I...more
Pressfield has a great eye for historical detail and his emphasis on the starkness of Spartan life makes for intriguing reading. The last part of the book is the battle itself and totally mind-blowing; the finest thing I...more
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Read in August, 2008
recommended to rachel by:
my husbandrecommends it for: interested in history and good novels.
it took my breath away. it's an epic, a piece of history, but still very intimate and philosophical. the spartan life and the war for a free greece in 480 b.c. is completely absorbing and fascinating.
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Read in January, 2007
This one almost wasn't fair.
I'm a huge fan of historical fiction. The battle of the pass at Thermopylae still stands as one of the most awe inspiring tactical encounters the world has ever seen and proof that often the truth is more incredible than fiction.
The story follows a young man who grows into adult-hood and follows him into the epic battle itself, one of the fight's sole survivors. Asked to retell his life's story to the Persian's after the fight. It's this story ...more
I'm a huge fan of historical fiction. The battle of the pass at Thermopylae still stands as one of the most awe inspiring tactical encounters the world has ever seen and proof that often the truth is more incredible than fiction.
The story follows a young man who grows into adult-hood and follows him into the epic battle itself, one of the fight's sole survivors. Asked to retell his life's story to the Persian's after the fight. It's this story ...more
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One of the best books I've ever read... up there with Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the Perelandra series, the L'Engle 'Wind in the door' books...
This was an incredibly vivid, incredibly gory, incredibly well written book, describing a fictionalized account of the battle of Thermopylae, written from the perspective of the sole survivor from the Greek side of the battle. It covers the (gently fictionalized, but not much, from other reading I've done) training that Spartan warriors went...more
This was an incredibly vivid, incredibly gory, incredibly well written book, describing a fictionalized account of the battle of Thermopylae, written from the perspective of the sole survivor from the Greek side of the battle. It covers the (gently fictionalized, but not much, from other reading I've done) training that Spartan warriors went...more
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Read in March, 2009
This was a very good book. One of those that I couldn't wait to pick back up and read. Steven Pressfield does a very good job of telling the story through a series of unique perspectives. It read like a history book while still being fun enough for fiction. I did keep comparing things I was reading to 300 and that may have made it tougher to read. I thought there may have been cases of anachronism with the language and that distracted me a bit but then again, if it were written all in Greek coll...more
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What Are We Going To Read Next?
Here are a list of several books nominated or mentioned as future group reads. This poll is to get a sense of what we'd like to read.
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quotes from this book
"He who whets his steel, whets his courage"
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