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Gates of Fire

steven pressfield

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At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army.

Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history—one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale. . . .

“A novel that is intricate and arresting and, once begun, almost impossible to put down.”—Daily News

“A timeless epic of man and war . . . Pressfield has created a new classic deserving a place beside the very best of the old.”—Stephen Coonts

526 pages, Paperback

First published October 20,1998
Places
greece, thermopylae, 

This edition

Format
526 pages, Paperback
Published
September 27, 2005 by Bantam
ISBN
9780553383683
ASIN
055338368X
Language
English
Characters More characters

  • Leonidas

    ...

  • Xerxes I of Persia

    Xerxes I Of Persia

    Xerxes I (c. 518 – August 465 BC), commonly known as Xerxes the Great, was a Persian ruler who served as the fourth King of Kings of the Achaemenid Empire, reigning from 486 BC until his assassination in 465 BC. He was the son of Darius the Great and Atos...

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About the author

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steven pressfield

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I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother.

I graduated from Duke University in 1965.

In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. "No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again."

Forty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined.

GATES OF FIRE is one reason. Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first days of the invasions. E-mails come in by hundreds. GATES OF FIRE is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. TIDES OF WAR is on the curriculum of the Naval War College.

From 2nd Battalion/6th Marines, which calls itself "the Spartans," to ODA 316 of the Special Forces, whose forearms are tattooed with the lambda of Lakedaemon, today's young warriors find a bond to their ancient precursors in the historical narratives of these novels.

My struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in my 2002 book, THE WAR OF ART.

I have worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. I have picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.

With the publication of THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 1995, I became a writer of books once and for all.

My writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code — internal rather than external — in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I have labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in THE WAR OF ART) and the technique for combatting these foes can be described as "turning pro."

I believe in previous lives.

I believe in the Muse.

I believe that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration, whom we call artists. My conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.

There's a recurring character in my books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like my conception of art and the artist:

"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."

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Rating(4.1 / 5.0, 100 votes)
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Profile Image for Kimberly .
quoii
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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Whilst Frank Miller's 300 may have captured the spirit of the battle of Thermopylae - elephants and wizards not withstanding, Steven Pressfield takes a much more realist approach. Greece in 480 BC is presented as a place of constant warfare united only by the prospect of imminent Persian invasion. The Spartans are as brutal and oppressive as they are stoic and courageous, so much so in fact that the Persians seem a relatively civilised and cultured lot in comparison. Despite the repugnance much of Spartan life may arouse in the modern mind, it's hard not to feel some admiration for their utter refusal to accept subjugation in any form. History lessons aside, it's in the battle scenes that this book really comes to life, the physical strain and merciless nature of close quarters fighting in the age of the hoplite has never been more vividly captured, even without the battle elephants.
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KAKASHISGF
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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rating: 5/5 (more like 4.75 but I'll round)

The story didn't really grip me (although it was still interesting)until the last 3 books (the novel is split into 8 "books" or sections), which were filled with jaw droppingly amazing battle and camp scenes from Thermopylae. I am a sucker for well written battles and soldier camaraderie and this was it, one of the best I've read so far.

It was filled with a ton of historical accuracy, from the events to the historical people and through battle techniques, Spartan battle training and laws, through to how ancient Greece looked, felt, and even smelled. The description and details were captivating.

The character development was good as well, I fell in love with Xeo and his telling of Alexandros, Dienekes, Leonidas, Suicide, Polynikes, and others.

However, the story was told by Xeo, looking retroactively at the battle and the lives of the Spartans, as told to the Persian Great King Xerxes and involved jumping through time in a non-linear fashion. It also included some notes from a Persian historian, as if he were recording the story and happenings currently, post Battle of Thermopylae. I understand why the author made those choices, there were things that Xeo couldn't witness and an understanding we could only get from a Persian POV. I get it. Still, it served to drag me away from the story and my emotional involvement with it, and sometimes even caused confusion as to the timeline. The disruption wasn't terrible but it was enough to strip this novel of its potential to be one of my all-time favorites.

Despite this, it was still amazing, brilliant, and breathtaking; a worthy read and one of the better ones on ancient Greece. I would recommend it to everyone, especially those that love historically accurate detail and ancient military history, tactics, and battles.
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ageof_life
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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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", which cracked everyone up because it sounded like "Weck up to thees". Not only is that not that funny, but it doesn't really work for me because it takes me away from picturing these guys speaking Greek, and becomes a comedy of guys talking in amusingly accented English like Cheech and Chong. I'll allow a star for the research the author did for the background for the book.
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Ermhs_Parasoidis
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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Absolutely amazing. Anyone interested in ancient history or military fiction simply must read "Gates of Fire." By Zeus, this is one of those books that everyone should read, regardless of what their favorite genre is. Steven Pressfield has an amazing gift for transplanting the reader into his era of choice.

I could attempt to spend hours writing a witty review, but ultimately it would not do this book justice. So do yourself a favor and add it to your "To Read" shelf, or the gods will surely curse you and your offspring from this day until the end of time.

Get your copy here: https://amzn.to/2KBFAty
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DeltaWDarko
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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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 of Greek civilization in contrast to that of the Persians. Pressfield is intimately familiar with the major historical accounts of the battle and fills in the many gaps with events and conversations that could have, and possibly should have, happened.

Leonidas, one of two kings of Sparta, leads 300 Spartans to Thermopylae in the attempt to delay the Persian army from reaching Greece before the Greeks have time to prepare the resistance. In ancient times, Thermopylae was the site of a narrow pass between the mountains and the sea, only wide enough for a few men to walk shoulder to shoulder. Joined by allies from other Greek cities (Argos and Thespis, as I recall), the total number of fighting men was approximately 1,200 to face Xerxes mighty army, which ancient accounts number in the millions. The Spartans use superior technology (bronze armor and weapons), superior training, and superior tactics (the deadly phalanx) to hold the Persians for three days. Even Persia's elite fighting force, the dreaded Immortals, are unable to defeat the Spartans.

Treachery, however, proves the undoing of the Spartans. Ephialtes (not the misshapen expatriate Spartan of the moview "300") sells information to the Persians, revealing a hidden path through the mountains. Surrounded, the Spartans refuse to surrender, preferring to fight to the death in order to demonstrate their superiority and to strike fear into the hearts of the Persians, who will soon have to face larger Greek armies. The death toll for the Persians is in the high thousands.

(Although not in the book, the sacrifice of the Spartans ultimately pays off. For, after sacking Athens, Xerxes is defeated in two decisive battles: Salamis, in which the Athenian navy destroys the Persian fleet, deprives Xerxes of much needed supplies; Plataea, in which the combined armies of Sparta and other allies defeats the Persian army. Greece, and along with it, Western Civilization is saved from Persian slavery, and the path is paved for the Golden Age of Athens.)

The book is an incredibly good read. I have recommended the book to many different people of various backgrounds and interests. None have been able to put it down.
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Kronenbourg11
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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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 I nearly gave Gates of Fire 4 stars instead of 5...but I didn't.
I didn't have a problem with the backwards and forwards through the meat of the book, but by the last third of the book, once it was time to leave for Thermopylae, and once they were there, the flow was often a bit too constricted by Pressfield jumping out of the tense rushing storyline, into other slower laid back storylines. It took a long while, it seemed, before the real battle of Thermopylae was fought. And when it was. My heart broke.
It is odd. You know the story of those three hundred. Knew their fate, but it didn't make it any easier when the time came for the end. They went to the Hot Gates to die, and die they did.
Pressfield is a man of high talent when it comes to writing and I can't believe it has taken me this long to finally read this book. But boy am I glad I did.
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Kan3pt
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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Xerxes, de Perzische koning, vraagt na de slag bij Thermopylae aan een gevangen genomen
Griekse slaaf, om zijn kant van het verhaal te vertellen.
Deze Xeones zegt dat hij, om alles duidelijk te maken, moet beginnen bij het begin, en zijn hele levensverhaal moet vertellen.
En zo begint het verhaal. Als lezer werd ik vanaf het begin erin meegezogen. Het leven van deze Griek, en van de Spartanen en hun bondgenoten, wordt zo levendig beschreven, zo vol emotie en toch ook kracht, dat mijn aandacht constant vastgehouden werd.
Alhoewel een groot deel van het boek bestaat uit de strijd die geleverd werd, eerst de oorlog met de Spartanen en al hun bondgenoten tegen de Perzen, en dan de laatste beslissende slag van de 300 bij Thermopylae, de Warme Poorten, bleef het spannend en bleef mijn inlevingsvermogen groot, wat meestal wat moeilijk is bij oorlogsbeschrijvingen.
Ik kan met zekerheid zeggen dat ik dit één van de beste historische romans is die ik al gelezen heb.
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radiantfire
★ ★ ★ ★ ★
April 1,2025
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n  BookTube channel with my awesome brother, Ed - The Brothers Gwynnen
n  My personal BookTube channel - William Gwynnen

Gates of Fire is one of the most extraordinary books I have ever read. This is a book about friendship, camaraderie, purpose, sacrifice, fear and love. It is a book that examines the human condition, exploring three themes through a cast of incredibly vivid characters who each leap off of the page with a feeling of authenticity. It is, simply put, one of a kind.

“The hardship of the exercises is intended less to strengthen the back than to toughen the mind. The Spartans say that any army may win while it still has its legs under it; the real test comes when all strength is fled and the men must produce victory on will alone.”

Gates of Fire tells the tale of Thermopyalae. How a small number of Spartans and allies historically stood against the hordes of the Persian Empire at "The Hot Gates". This is told as a chronicle, by a survivor of the battle, so that they are recounting their own small role in this landmark and history-changing battle as well as the roles of those around him. It is a coming of age story as we learn how our narrator found himself in this position, from his childhood to the battle itself.

“Fear conquers fear. This is how we Spartans do it, counterpoising to fear of death a greater fear: that of dishonour. Of exclusion from the pack.”

Despite of course already knowing how Thermopalae ends, Pressfield still manages to craft a story filled with such tension and immersion. He uses this dramatic irony masterfully, manipulating our emotions as we swiftly become immersed in this world and the concepts it is circulating. If you feel hesitant to read this for fear of the end having no payoff, please reconsider. It has one of the most powerful endings I have had the pleasure to read.

This is a character driven story. It is about what drives us as individuals, and how important friendship is. It looks at the power of being a part of something greater than itself, and it discusses these philosophical topics in such a natural and organic way. It comes straight from our characters, so that these themes do not detract from the story, but are used to enhance our emotion and understanding of the cast of characters.

“As all born teachers, he was primarily a student.”

Gates of Fire is such a brilliant book. It is about comradeship, belonging, sacrifice and love. The way Steven Pressfield tells this story has such an enchanting quality about it. It is written masterfully. But that magical quality does not detract from the brutality and horror that is also shared within these pages. We see moments of absolute virtue, to those of a despicable nature. But all of these are captivating, and amalgamates to create one of the best books I have ever read. Some of the best moments in any book. Some of the best characters. One of the best premises. All comes together to form a story that is truly masterful, in every way.

My brother and I talk about Gates of Fire on our channel... The Brothers Gwynne
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