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 shows the friendship between these warriors, the families waiting for their return and the incredible effort of so few against such odds. It has plenty of action and adventure for male readers and plenty of depth and heart. That's not always an easy thing to accomplish to keep both sides in the mix.

We rate this a solid 4. Why not 5? Honestly, because it has been awhile since we have read it. We are going off of our fond remembrances and we all know how they can affect ones perception, so we want to leave room for error. Upon a re-read that could easily change.

So we will say it again, it is simply a powerful and moving read, but also an ever moving book, from one set of hands to another. If you get a chance to grab it when it comes along, do so.

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 this century. This rage colored my every word and thought. It's not the book's fault that some people seemed to view it as a justification of the U.S.A.'s bumbling militarism. I'll try to write a review of this book sometime when I've calmed down, maybe in 20 years.

later

OK, I've taken some medication and had a nice lie down.

Why bother to read books? After all, there's no money in reading, and it will not help you to obtain a fashionably well-developed musculature. I don't understand why other people read books, but then again, I don't understand why people do pretty much everything, including but not limited to going to flea markets, voting for defenders of the rights of the well-to-do, and having interest in the lives of movie stars, to name just a few.

I read books because my mental picture of myself is a piece of meat in a cage. I am a prisoner, stuck like a bug in amber in a class, time, space, nationality, residence, psychology, and function. I often flatter myself that my place in the world is of my own choosing but it is really the result of forces which were in motion long before I was born and will continue to influence the world long after everyone's forgotten that I ever lived. Animated with that cheerful thought, I wonder if life appears this way to everyone else. Many people seem to be acting and behaving very differently from me, most relevantly, in this case, soldiers. Since it is not yet possible to engage in Matrix-like entry into soldiers' consciousnesses, the closest that I can get to understanding why soldiers act so completely different from me is to read books about them.

It's still difficult for me to understand why anyone would willingly ignore the pointless bullying, the tedious machismo, the cynical grasping and snatching after pathetic shreds of power, and the sheer unadulterated lunacy (all adequately portrayed in this novel) that seem to invariably accompany military life. However, I think that I caught while reading this book certain glimpses of a rationale, if something mostly disconnected from reason can still be called a “rationale”.

Why get up in the morning? Why take one route to work and not the other? Why order a croissant and not a banana nut muffin? Why do a good job at work when a crummy job will suffice? Why sit? Why stand? Why write a review for Goodreads that three people may read instead of, say, listening to Alma Cogan sing “Never Do a Tango With an Eskimo” on Youtube for the umptee-umpth time?

When you are a part of a team, any team, it helps everything else to make sense. If you are part of a fighting team, life not only makes sense, but you have a purpose as well. You get up in the morning, you have a place to go. It makes a difference whether you shine your shoes. There's a right way to lay your shield on the ground, and a wrong way. You have friends and colleagues to admire, and to be admired by. You can't let them down by staying home on the couch and watching reruns of “America's Next Top Model”, because you promised to be at hoplite formation drills. You are a nobly small part of a fine upstanding tradition, without which the Persians would overrun civilization, leaving us to wallow in our own filth while listening to goateed Brooklyn hipsters complain about the deficit of adequate post-apocalyptic arugula.

I guess it's just about time for another dose of medication.

Before I join the line at the nurse's window, I'd like to say that reading this book about people with a purpose was a worthwhile use of time, but I'm not sure that present-day people who read this book and see their purpose reflected in the life and achievements of the Spartans actually understand the Spartans, or themselves.

Gates of Fire is easily my book of the year so far, and I find it difficult to imagine I’ll be reading a better book in the next few months. The Brothers Gwynne have been raving about this book for a while now, and I finally gave in, as I had a few extra days left over this month after finishing my usual TBR. More booktubers need to read and review this book. It is, quite simply, excellent.

It’s been a good year for historical fiction in general, as far as my reading goes. The best series I’ve read this year has been The Warlord Chronicles by Bernard Cornwell, a retelling of the Arthurian Legend. Gates of Fire is a standalone, and is the tale of 300 – King Leonidas and the valiant Spartans who held the line at the Battle of Thermopylae against the ruthless invading army of King Xerxes’ Persians.

We learn about the story of the Spartans from Xeones, a survivor of the battle who is captured by the Persians. He narrates his tale to King Xerxes and his historian. It is a tale of hardship, loss, and sacrifice, but one that inspires greatly. It is also a tale of valour, stoicism, and honour.

The author's prose is brilliant, and every single character is memorable. A bit like Bernard Cornwell’s tale of Arthur, you know the basics, but can’t help reading page after page anyway. There was not a single page where I got bored, not a single page which the book would be better off without. This is an absolute page turner, and of the hardest books to put down. A story that will stay with you for a long long time, if not forever.

I’ve read books by authors who write absolute top tier battle scenes – Bernard Cornwell, of course, Joe Abercrombie, John Gwynne, Steven Erikson, to name a few. But Steven Pressfield might just be my new favourite.

An absolute masterpiece, and highest possible recommendation.

Έχω νιώσει άπειρα συναισθήματα και έχω ταξιδέψει σε αμέτρητους κόσμους μέσα από τις ιστορίες των βιβλίων που έχω διαβάσει. Δεν θυμάμαι όμως να έχω ανατριχιάσει σε τόσα πολλά σημεία με κανένα άλλο εκτός από αυτό!
Είναι ένα εξαιρετικό ,ένα μεγαλειώδες θα τολμήσω να πω, βιβλίο όπως άλλωστε και η ιστορία στην οποία είναι βασισμένο που δεν είναι άλλη από αυτή των 300.

For any of you who have seen the movie 300 with Gerard Butler…yeah…it probably didn’t really happen that way. It wasn’t a group of only three hundred men, with carbon copied abs, who held back the thousands of Persians poised to invade Greece over three days of constant battle. Steven Pressfield’s story is most likely a little closer to the truth; the Spartans had thousands of allies, squires, and retainers, each capable of thrusting a spear at an enemy in an enclosed area; and much to my wife’s protests, they definitely would have worn armor to protect their chests and abdomens.

Gates of Fire isn’t a new release, but it really isn’t that old either; the original release was 1998. I enjoyed the point of view in this story. Pressfield told the story of a young helot, a man born outside of Sparta, who gave himself over as a serf to the Spartans. I always find this “common man” perspective interesting; it allows the reader to get a chance to see both sides of the story (the inflated story told by the winner with some of what really happened from someone without an agenda).

I enjoyed the time that Pressfield gave me with Xeones. The story fit in nicely with some others that I have read and listened to over the years. Filling in gaps that others may have skimmed over. He really focused on the Battle of Thermopylae, and the people who were there. Pressfield created some great characters, filled with humanity. I felt like I was in the phalanx with these brave men.

I went with the Audible version of Gates of Fire and enjoyed the narration, mostly. I just don’t think that George Guidall was the best choice for the roles. His voice was commanding and would be great for many books; it’s just that this tale is told by a young man; not even twenty years old, and to be honest, George Guidall sounds like a man who has seen and done it all. I just think that it would have been better to get a younger voice for Gates of Fire.

Remarkably engaging, and remarkably bloody!

While I happily delve into historical fiction on an occasionally regular basis and also enjoy some rousing battles in the more speculative genres, I've never found historical military fiction to be particularly entertaining. This buddy-read turned out to be an outlier. I found Gates of Fire to be nuanced and thoughtfully appealing.

This is the battle of Thermopyle (think 300) recounted by Xeones – a servant of the Spartan army – to the invading Persian emperor Xerxes. Xeones is the only survivor found among the many Greek corpses after the notorious battle, and he is saved from death so that the Persians can get a better idea of the spirit behind the incredible valor and skill of the incredibly efficient Spartans. Xeones' perspective is an interesting one: after being driven from his own home and losing most of his family in a more localized territorial battle, the young boy Xeones ultimately chooses to place himself into servitude in Sparta for the opportunity to learn to fight and model himself after the renowned warriors of that land. His narrative spans many years prior to the big battle at the titular gates, and gives great context about the politics and fighting that precede it. Approaching the story from this angle is great for a reader like me, who is about as far away from a military mindset as a person can be. It also gives observational insight into Spartan ideologies that form the foundation of the unity of their brotherhood.

And ultimately that is what this book is about, though the battle at the Gates of Fire is given gruesome spotlight for the final third-ish of the story. It is about patriotic urges, the philosophies of heroics and fear, and the incredible bond that ties the defending army together. This is powerfully conveyed in Pressfield's writing. It is little wonder that this novel is cited as a favourite of many a Serviceman.

Overall, a moving book to read, though the field of battle is horrific and gory and sad. There are a few slow moments in the middle which still add to the characterizations that are vital for this story to be as affecting as it is.

Having stepped away from the immediate experience, I can feel myself start poking at it with my own ideals and questions and curiosities, but the writing is good, and the tale is both gripping and anthemic enough that I didn't stop to be my own objectionable and critical self while I was reading. I think that is a pretty strong achievement by the author.

If I allow myself to pick away at it in the back of my mind then an eventual reread might fare differently, but I really appreciated Gates of Fire and would absolutely recommend it to any fan of Historical War Fiction.

Todos sabemos lo que pasa y como pasa, pero Pressfield lo narra de forma excepcional.

A review of
Gates of Fire
By
Steven Pressfield

This is a novel set around the events of the battle of Thermopylae in Ancient Greece, the same battle that inspired the well-known 300 Graphic novel and film. A tale that still captures the imagination of people thousands of years after the events took place. We all know the story; the 300 brave Spartans who stood against the hordes of Persia, hugely outnumbered and yet, still fought and died bravely to the last man, taking a massive toll on the Persian army.
So going into this book I knew how it was going to end, but what I didn’t expect is just how immersed I would become in the lives of the book’s characters. This book gives us a very well researched glimpse into Spartan life and Ancient Greek culture through the eyes of its main protagonist Xeones. Xeones is not a Spartan himself, but through fate he ends up living amongst them. Unable to become a full Spartan warrior, but still a free man he instead becomes the battle squire for the Spartan commander Dienekes. The story flashes forwards and backwards in time, from his childhood, through parts of his life in Spartan Greece, and of course, to the events surrounding the final battle itself. We see his life, learn how they thought, get a glimpse at the Spartan philosophy and mind-set. We meet his family and friends, his comrades in arms. There were so many amazing characters in this book, from his friend Alexandros, to his master Dienekes, to his rivals, each and every one takes an emotional toll by the end of the novel.
One point I found quite jarring at first, but by the end, I found quite fantastic was Pressfield’s use of Ancient Greek words and phrases throughout the novel. I actually learnt quite a lot of the language by the end, so when it was used I really understood the dialogue on a deeper level. This element shows an incredible level of research from the author and brought a real sense of authenticity.
In short this book was fantastic, there are some heavy emotions involved in the read, but is definitely a must read. There is such bravery and valour, and yet, shows the deep philosophical undercurrent of Ancient Greece and the Spartan culture. By the end I felt I truly understood the characters sacrifice.

If you enjoy ancient Greece, or are a fan of any form of military fiction I can recommend… Hell, everyone should just go and read this book. It’s amazing. Do it, but prepare yourself, it hits hard.

Thanks for reading.
Lee C. Conley

This book is about the Battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece, where 300 Spartans fought to the death. The main character of the book is a slave who is captured by the Spartans. Even though he is a slave of the Spartans, he begins to admire their bravery and courage.

During the course of the book, we see the slave’s hometown get destroyed, we find out how he becomes a slave, and why he admires the Spartans’ courage. We also see the slave become a warrior who fights next to the Spartans. This was a surprising book for me. I wasn't expecting to like it and ended up loving it. This is also probably one of the better books on war that has ever been written.

The first thing* anyone visiting Thermopylae will notice is that it looks nothing like it should. The shore has expanded outwards dramatically and a highway has been plowed through the middle. Visitors to the site spend upwards of five minutes wandering the short distance from the little parking lot to the hill of the last stand before passing by on their way to more inspiring destinations (2.5 millennia later Thermopylae is still the gateway to the north). They could be forgiven for wondering what all the fuss was about. Why was this unimpressive site, of all places, chosen for the Greek stand against the vast armies of Persia? And how could a few thousand men possibly imagine they could block any decently-sized force from coming through? You can see what I mean by watching 300 Spartans, filmed on location at the Hot Gates just before the highway went up. You can’t get closer to real life than that, yet it doesn’t look right. Not anymore. And so we have to turn to literature to bring the place to life. And no account of the battle is more famous than Gates of Fire.

I’ve got to be honest: until about the halfway point I was underwhelmed, suspecting that this book has been massively overrated. It wasn’t bad precisely, but it wasn’t great either. I have issues. To be specific:

The central frame seems a little forced. Xerxes demanding a novel-length account from a Greek survivor? That’s not what this book reads like at all.

There were too many timeline shifts given to us in an unnecessarily complex way. We need to keep three timelines in our head: immediately after the battle of Thermopylae, Xeones’ early childhood after his city was sacked, and his rise to status among the Spartans and eventual journey to Thermopylae. And there are even timejumps within these timejumps, further impeding our ability to understand.

At least partly as a result of this the characterization suffers and it takes us longer than it should to get to know these characters.

To some degree I also think the characters’ backstory is not as engaging as it could be. Greece was a pretty brutal place to grow up, but it still had its pleasures and at no point did there seem much worth living for (as opposed to dying for). I suppose it would be fair to say that I enjoyed the characters but didn’t care much for any of their journeys before the last.

These are significant issues and, although not really ruinous to the book as a whole, they don’t exactly bode well.

But then the buildup to the battle starts and everything develops a purpose. By this point you know, at least, who Xeones is and why he’s found himself there, and you’re familiar with all the other characters as well. Even if the dishing out of their backstory could have been improved all that matters now is where they’re going. And the account of Thermopylae is spectacular. The battle feels real and intimate and bloody. The first day’s fighting alone occupies two chapters and feels like the battlefield memoirs of a survivor.

Pressfield was a Marine and it shows vividly in his writing. There are times when reading ex-soldiers attempting historical fiction where I find myself thinking that these are just transposed Americans/British/whatever soldiers in funny costumes but with their values and fighting styles intact. This was not one of those times. Generally at least. The description of hoplite warfare felt real, particularly the way the scrum oozes through the cracks of the enemy line. Spartan values are not modern values, and even if the training sounds like a more intense version of boot camp it’s very clear that this violence is being directed at literal children. The various elements of the Spartan state (the assembly, the dual monarchy, the krypteia, the agoge...) are present, although it doesn’t really take us in-depth enough for my taste (see The Fox for a better example of that). About the only thing that’s been edited out for the benefit of “modern” sensibilities is the homosexuality. Odd too, since the mentorship between Alexandros and Dienekes seems very much the sort of structured homosexual relationships the Spartans (and Greeks more generally) encouraged. Yet the only reference to gay sex is when the Greeks are mocking the Persians(!) for it.

One element I appreciated was that the book doesn’t read like creepy fascist propaganda the way 300 and so many modern pro-Spartan takes would have it. Xeones is an outsider to Sparta, little more than a slave, and is often abused by those he idolizes. The Spartans are the heroes but they’re also slave-owning aristocrats and are capable of acts of murder and immense cruelty, even leaving aside the child abuse. Outside the bonds of battlefield brotherhood they don’t feel very likable at all. Best of all to my mind was that the book didn’t sugarcoat the ideal of Greek unity in the face of the barbarian horde. The first conflict we see is one of the many minor Greek-on-Greek conflicts as one city-state sought to dominate another. And that is what the Greeks will return to as soon as the Persian War is over.

I was a little surprised that the oncoming Persian invasion was dealt with in such isolation. We get references to Spartan efforts to shore up alliances, but we get little specific and never really find out what obstacles they faced (aside from fear). We also get little to no detail about Marathon, the Ionian Revolt (not even mentioned), the causes of the invasion more generally, or the grand Hellenic council. We don’t even hear about the famous scene of Spartans throwing the Persian ambassadors down a well. I think this was a bit of a missed opportunity to show the tenuous nature of the Greek alliance and what held them together, but I can tell that Pressfield is a bit singleminded in his focus on the experience of war.

One thing that did disappoint me though was the acceptance of Herodotus’ statement that there were two million men in the Persian army. Only an absolute idiot would believe this claim (which didn’t stop several older Classicists from making it) and I never thought Pressfield an idiot. Let me put it another way: despite the populations of modern Greece and Germany being triple those of ancient Greece and Persia, when the Nazis invaded in 1941 their amy was only a bit over a quarter the size. Even adding in the Italians only gives us half that size. And the two armies came in from a different direction, which was a luxury the Persians didn’t have. The Nazis, using one of the most effective conscription campaigns in history, managed to mobilize about 16% of their population. Can anyone honestly claim that Persia was able to militarize a similar portion of their population despite the absence of detailed censuses, mass-produced paper, or even modest levels of literacy? And that they could keep them supplied in enemy teritories without access to trains, trucks, motorized ships, or any of the various types of farm equipment and fertilizer available to modern man? Yeah right. A British army officer stationed in the region once did the math and determined that for such an army even draining the rivers dry would not stop it dying of thirst if it tried to invade Greece. If Pressfield’d just limited the claim of such an immense army to the Greeks (who were used to small armies and couldn’t contextualize the army’s true scale) it would have been fine, but he has Persians claim it too. Gah!

This is probably the best account of Thermopylae out there. The battle comes to life in a way only the best novels can achieve. The brotherhood formed by combat is really pushed here and characters who seem unlikable at first become more so over time. The book’s small-scale focus on a minor player means that we don’t get any real considerations of the broader organization or issues (really, Persia’s decision to invade is never explained), so if you want to see that I’d recommend a book like Farewell, Great King. This tells the story of Themistocles and his leadership of Athens during and after the war and can provide a useful counterpoint to the more gung-ho account in this book. Alas, I haven’t seen any naval officers try to do for Salamis what Pressfield does for Thermopylae here. Naval warfare is truly underdeveloped in historical fiction for this period.


* The second thing you notice is the horrible modern memorial with “heroic” nudes reclining daintily on couches. We do not speak of the modern memorial.

I am so surprised that I liked this book so much.

I generally don't like historical fiction or stories about war. I had to read them in school and never really liked them. For several years now, I have been trying to broaden my reading horizons and try different genres that I don't usually read. Now, many years after I finished my school education, there came time for a historical novel, and one in which a lot of space is devoted to the war. Interestingly, this story includes one more thing that I do not like in my books - it is the story of the main character's life from his childhood to the moment he is now. So I am really surprised how interested I was in this story and how much I enjoyed it.

This is a male book. I can't say exactly why. But reading, or actually listening to the audiobook, I thought it was a book written by a man for men. It wasn't something that bothered me as a woman, but it was part of the experience.

Steven Pressfield narrates the events that led to the Battle of Thermopylae in an amazing way. His story is both extremely real and has something imaginary about it, something out of a fairy tale. Perhaps because it tells about events that happened hundreds of years ago that they seem unreal to us today. On the other hand, it is not a story of a battle or of political events, but of people who fought with their closest friends in a battle that was lost from the very beginning. In some respects, it reminds me of World War II uprisings (including the Warsaw Uprising), fired with no chance of victory, but only to choose the type of death.

This is a truly amazing story and wonderfully told. I am so happy that I read it. That's why from time to time I like to read something I don't usually read, because I can have that unique experience. I definitely recommend this book to those who are interested in ancient Greece and those who like stories about people caught up in a whirlwind of true historical events.

This is a story about one of the most interesting cultures and one of the most spectacular battles of the ancient world. And yet the book somehow managed to undermine all of that. This is a laborious read. It's heavy on detail that bogs down the story line (as well as the historical context itself) and tortured sentence structure. I finally quit on this book 36% of the way through it (according to my Kindle) after reading the following phrase:

Nonetheless I might, without violating the sanctity of the law, yet vouchsafe to her, a mother understandably concerned about her son's welfare and future, some indication, if not the precise words and actions of the aforesaid event, then perhaps some portion of its tone and flavor.

Wait, what? Yeah, I'm out.