great as always, thank you mister Steven for your books, they are a blessing!!!!!

Just as good as Gates of Fire!

It's about manhood and brotherhood. Trials, tragedies, and triumphs being borne among equals and continuing the never-ending quest for affirmation from peers seeking the same: fully knowing yourself and stretching ones limits.

"Κατά την άποψή του, η Αθήνα δεν ήταν μια πόλη που έπρεπε να υπηρετήσει αλλά μια σύζυγος που ήθελε να κερδίσει"

"Δεν είμαι εγώ αυτός που θα ζητήσει την εξόντωση του φίλου μας , Πολεμίδα, αλλά η μοναχική θεά την οποία ο ίδιος λατρεύει"
"Και ποια είναι αυτή η θεά;
"Η ανάγκη"

"Η τόλμη γεννά την ύβρη. Η ύβρη προκαλεί τη νέμεση. Και η νέμεση τιμωρεί την τόλμη"

Read this book in 2011, and its another terrific standalone book , this time about the Athenian Greek, Alcibiades.

Set between the year 431 until 404 BC it will tell us the triumphs on land and sea in the Peloponnesian War, his ultimate downfall and banishment, followed in the end by subsequent exile in the Achaemenid Empire.

All battles he fought for Athens he won, but as a Statesman, orator and General and during the Peloponnesian War he has defected several times, from Athens to Sparta, from Sparta to Persia, and from Persia back to Athens.

Alcibiades, a genius in fighting but also a man with a huge aristocratic hubris that will bring him at first many friends and followers within the Aristocratic alliance, but that will change when his defections will bring him many enemies among the Athenians and the Spartans.

All in all a tremendous tale about a complex man, who was a genius when it came to fighting enemies and doing battles, but when it came to loyalty he had no problem in jumping ship from one empire towards another, as long as they offered him the most financially and in power.

Although undefeated in battle within the Peloponnesian War, his defections will be his downfall and in the end the Spartans will put a price on his head, and with the assistance of the Achaemenid Empire of King Artaxerxes.

Highly recommended, for this is a splendid retelling of the aristocratic Alcibiades of Athens, and that's why I like to call this superb Greek outing: "An Astounding Alcibiades"!

Ένα από τα πιο ενδιαφέρονται και συναρπαστικά βιβλία του Πελοποννησιακού Πολέμου, το οποίο περιστρέφεται κατά κύριο λόγο γύρω από την αινιγματική φυσιογνωμία του Αθηναίου στρατηγού Αλκιβιάδη. Από το ξέσπασμα του Πολέμου, τον Λύσανδρο, τη Σικελική Εκστρατεία ως τους Αιγός Ποταμούς και τη συνθηκολόγηση των Αθηνών ο αναγνώστης ταξιδεύει σε μία εξόχως σημαντική περίοδο της ελληνικής ιστορίας.

This requires one to be a little bit of a history geek. It's an epic set in the Peloponnesian War. The narration style can be a bit confusing, and some momentum is lost by the end, but the characters are intriguing, and Pressfield's writing style falls somewhere comfortably between classical and modern. The chapter detailing the disastrous Athenian invasion of Sicily is mesmerizing, and pretty much worth the whole read.

Set against the backdrop of the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens, this story revolves around the fascinating historical figure Alcibiades. A gifted, inspiring general, politician, and orator, Alcibiades managed to switch allegiances from Athens to Sparta to Persia and back to Athens throughout the conflict, proving that someone will always want your services if you're good. While not as gripping as the author's prior book "Gates of Fire" (which I *highly* recommend), this is an entertaining, imaginative story based on real historical events and worth reading.

Listened on audible. Great narration.

After Gates of Fire and Virtues of War, feel like Pressfield stumbled on this one. Story is all over the place. Character development is confusing, albeit compelling.

One of the most loved and hated at the same time personalities of Ancient Athens, Alcibiades, is the main character of this book. A great leader with great ambition. The book is fast paced and describes in an enjoyable manner the character of this man and his "achievements" through the "eyes" of his friend and co-warrior. It also provides a good context which help us understand why Athenians both hated and loved Alcibiades. And as Steven Pressfield always does even the fictional characters and events that employs could have been true and they fit perfect with the plot, given you dont expect to read history but a novel. Only drawbrack, being Greek, is the nicknames who are a bit "American army" for me. Overall, an amazing book, a must read. I totally recommend it to anyone who likes historic novels.

I rated this as average based on the excellent historical background and insight it provides.
However, this is definitely not “Gates of Fire”, nor is it close. The narrative is disjointed at best jumping back and forth amongst a long series of events in the lives of the main characters. Adding to the confusion is that the story is basically the retelling of events by a man on “death row” to his reluctant attorney who is then relating it to his grandson. Convolution to the extreme!
In addition, Mr. Pressfield wore out his Thesaurus on this one. I like a new word as well as the next one, but this was ridiculous.
Like run on sentences? Then this book is for you- an English teacher’s nightmare.
To sum up, good content and story, but very difficult to read.

Un buen libro de novela histórica, como cabría esperar de un gran escritor como Pressfield. Dicen que Vientos de guerra es su novela más lograda, la más redonda. Yo no me atrevería a afirmar tanto, pero es un gran libro. Pressfield tiene conocimientos históricos y habilidad narrativa, lo que unido a lo espectacular de sus protagonistas le asegura el éxito. Además tiene la virtud de que el narrador parece ser realmente un griego del año 400 a.c. Y eso no es fácil, la mayoría de narradores de novela histórica son individuos del siglo XX o XXI trasplantados a la antigüedad y se nota.

Este libro en concreto nos narra la vida de Alcibíades, su genio como militar y personaje histórico. En ocasiones puede resultar un poco mareante tanto cambio de bando, pero por lo visto la historia real (hasta donde se puede saber) fue más o menos así. Tampoco ahorra sus buenas dosis de filosofía y política, pero entiendo que en su época la realidad era esa y así nos la transcribe el autor.

Hay que remarcar, sin embargo, que Vientos de guerra es bastante más densa que otros libros suyos como Puertas de fuego. Aquí Pressfield se muestra más ambicioso y se va al doble de páginas en un relato que abarca las tres décadas que duró la guerra del Peloponeso. En ese sentido el lector de otros libros del autor puede verse un poco agobiado...

Pero sigue siendo un libro apasionante sobre una época y una civilización fascinantes. En resumen, muy recomendable a poco que te guste la novela histórica y/o la Grecia clásica de Pericles, Sócrates o el propio Alcibíades...

Non è al livello di quella meraviglia di Le porte di fuoco. Contiente diverse pagine splendide, ma anche lunghe parti noiosette. Il colpo di scena finale (forse atteso, ma non in questo modo?) è proprio ben riuscito.