false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1158206203m/1317.jpg 1317 7 After chronicling the Spartan stand at Thermopylae in his audacious <I>Gates of Fire</I>, Steven Pressfield once again proves that it's all Greek to him. In <I>Tides of War</I>, he tells the tale of Athenian soldier extraordinaire Alcibiades. Despite the vaunted claims for Periclean democracy, he is undoubtedly first among equals--a great warrior and an impressive physical specimen to boot: "The beauty of his person easily won over those previously disposed, and disarmed even those who abhorred his character and conduct." He is also a formidable orator, whose stump speeches are paradoxically heightened by what some might consider an impediment: <blockquote> Even his lisp worked in Alcibiades' favor. It was a flaw; it made him human. It took the curse off his otherwise godlike self-presentation and made one, despite all misgivings, like the fellow. </blockquote> This tale of arms and the man requires two narrators. One, Jason, is an aging noble who serves as a sort of recording angel of the Athenian golden age. The other, Polymides, was long Alcibiades' right-hand man, yet is now imprisoned for his murder.<p> As they were in his previous novel, Pressfield's battle scenes are extraordinarily vivid and visceral. This time, however, many of these elemental clashes take place on water. "As far as sight could carry, the sea stood curtained with smoke and paved with warcraft. Immediately left, a battleship had rammed one of the vessels in the wall; all three of her banks were backing water furiously, to extract and ram again, while across the breach screamed storms of stones, darts, and brands of such density that the air appeared solid with steel and flame." <p> In addition to his gift for rendering patriotic gore, the author excels at quieter but no less deadly forms of combat. As Alcibiades' star rises and falls and rises again, we are escorted directly into the snakepit of Athenian realpolitik. Bathing us in the details of a distant era, Pressfield is largely convincing. But it must be said that his diction exhibits a sometimes comical variegation, sliding from Homeric rhetoric to tough-guy speak to the sort of casual Anglicisms we might expect from Evelyn Waugh's far-from-bright young things. No matter. <I>Tides of War</I> conquers by sheer storytelling prowess, reminding us that war was--and is--a highly addictive version of hell. <I>--Darya Silver</I> 544748 2000 Tides of War total:329|5:70|4:128|3:100|2:24|1:7| 329 1217 488 44 4 0 false false Wed Sep 23 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 11:24:37 -0700 2009 Wed Sep 23 17:22:04 -0700 2009 Tides of War, but I knew it was time to revisit it. The novel is about Alcidiades, the arch-traitor of Athens who went over to the Spartans, then the Persians, back to the Athenians, and so forth - every time his charisma carrying him to fresh glory. It...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 10 19:01:51 -0800 2008 Tue Aug 05 14:00:44 -0700 2008 more...]]> 2 1 false false Tue Dec 04 07:11:59 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 12:59:30 -0800 2007 Thu Nov 15 13:00:47 -0800 2007 4 0 false true Mon Sep 29 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Sun Jul 27 17:40:46 -0700 2008 Fri Oct 03 13:07:20 -0700 2008 1 Gates of Fire about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, and my love for that book was the impetus behind purhasing this one.

Just like with Gates of Fire, Pressfield te...more...]]> 0 0 false false Sat Mar 22 20:10:36 -0700 2008 Sat Mar 29 11:10:08 -0700 2008 bad. Rather, it's just very daunting. This book was one of the many we could pick off of a reading list for my college history class. The professor justified assigning this fictional story because it has a great amount of detail invested in...more...]]> 5 0 false false Sat Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Mar 13 18:56:24 -0700 2008 Thu Mar 13 18:57:32 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 0 false false Mon Mar 24 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Mar 12 21:33:12 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 24 08:15:59 -0700 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 10 17:51:54 -0700 2007 Wed Oct 10 18:03:59 -0700 2007
Told through the eyes of his assassin and assassin's lawyer, Pressfield captures, in my view, what Alkibiades must ...more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Jan 13 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sun Jan 11 14:26:10 -0800 2009 Tue Jan 20 01:52:31 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2005 Wed Jun 10 15:18:11 -0700 2009 Wed Jun 10 15:22:26 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Sun Dec 21 21:23:16 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 21 21:24:59 -0800 2008 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Jan 15 16:15:41 -0800 2009 Thu Jan 15 16:19:20 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Tue Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Tue Mar 17 08:03:04 -0700 2009 Tue Mar 17 08:04:09 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Mon Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 15 21:13:17 -0700 2009 Wed Apr 15 21:18:26 -0700 2009 4 0 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 09:11:34 -0800 2009 Tue Feb 24 09:12:13 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Nov 29 20:20:14 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 29 20:20:14 -0800 2009 0 0 false false Sat Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2000 Fri Jan 23 15:30:28 -0800 2009 Fri Jan 23 15:36:23 -0800 2009 5 0 false false Sun Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2004 Mon Nov 16 06:34:48 -0800 2009 Mon Nov 16 06:34:48 -0800 2009 3 0 false false Sun May 01 00:00:00 -0700 2005 Thu Sep 27 19:29:44 -0700 2007 Thu Sep 27 19:32:57 -0700 2007 more...]]> 3 0 false false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 07:09:57 -0800 2008 Sat Feb 16 07:13:16 -0800 2008 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=1317