| |  | Books : Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae |  | | | | | | | | | |
Our Price: $7.99
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Availability:Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 813
EAN: 9780553580532
ISBN: 0553580531
Label: Bantam
Manufacturer: Bantam
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 480
Publication Date: August 31, 1999
Publisher: Bantam
Release Date: August 31, 1999
Sales Rank: 30401
Studio: Bantam
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The national bestseller!
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....
Amazon.com Review:
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, thesite of one of the world's greatest battles for freedom. Here, in 480B.C., on a narrow mountain pass above the crystalline Aegean, 300 Spartanknights and their allies faced the massive forces of Xerxes, King ofPersia. From the start, there was no question but that the Spartanswould perish. In Gates of Fire, however, StevenPressfield makes their courageous defense--and eventualextinction--unbearably suspenseful.
In the tradition of Mary Renault, this historical novel unfolds inflashback. Xeo, the sole Spartan survivor of Thermopylae, has been capturedby the Persians, and Xerxes himself presses his young captive to reveal howhis tiny cohort kept more than 100,000 Persians at bay for a week. Xeo,however, begins at the beginning, when his childhood home in northernGreece wasoverrun and he escaped to Sparta. There he is drafted intothe elite Spartan guard and rigorously schooled in the art of war--aneducation brutal enough to destroy half the students, but (oddly enough)not without humor: 'The more miserable the conditions, the more convulsingthe jokes became, or at least that's how it seems,' Xeo recalls. Hiscompanions in arms are Alexandros, a gentle boy who turns out to bethe most courageous of all, and Rooster, an angry, half-Messenian youth.
Pressfield's descriptions of war are breathtaking in their immediacy. Theyare also meticulously assembled out of physical detail and crisp,uncluttered metaphor: The forerank of the enemy collapsed immediately as the first shock hit it;the body-length shields seemed to implode rearward, their anchoring spikesrooted slinging from the earth like tent pins in a gale. The forerankarchers were literally bowled off their feet, their wall-like shieldscaving in upon them like fortress redoubts under the assault of theram.... The valor of the individual Medes was beyond question, but theirlight hacking blades were harmless as toys; against the massed wall ofSpartan armor, they might as well have been defending themselves withreeds or fennel stalks. Alas, even this human barrier was bound to collapse, as we knew all alongit would. 'War is work, not mystery,' Xeo laments. But Pressfield's epicseems to make the opposite argument: courage on this scale is not merelyinspiring but ultimately mysterious. --Marianne Painter
Customer Reviews Average Rating: 
Rating:  - quequeeg
WOW! Take a history lesson while enjoying a fast read novel about the training and commitment of 300 Spartans, who hold off 2 million Persians at Thermopalye in 480 BC for seven days, to allow the armies of other Greek cities to mass for battle. When the Persian king demands that Spartans lay down their arms, Leonidas, king of Sparta replies: "Come and get them." If the Greeks had not stopped the Persian muslim hordes, they could have overrun Europe, eliminated Christianity and democracy.
I ... Read More
Rating:  - Gates of Fire
This is an excellent depiction of the battle of Thermopylae. The author gives us a look at the friendships and honor each soldier has for one another. The characters in this book could be placed in any war at any time and their experinces would still be the same.
I recomend this book to anyone interested in joining the military or anyone who is curious about battle and the men who fight.
Rating: - Fine historical novel
Really enjoyed this page turner.Plus it does a fine job of summarizing the Persian Wars.
Rating: - Captivating!
Although the martial nature of this book makes blood, guts and foul language seem appropriate, an edited copy might be in line here for the young or tender.That said, the story is absolutely captivating.I feel like I was there.Not only has Pressfield painted an accurate picture of Herodotus' account, he has filled in the lines with a realistic story line that forces the reader to think deeply about love, courage, patriotism and freedom.This is not just a war story, it is a penetrating look ... Read More
Rating:  - Good blend of history and fiction.
Gates of Fire is the tale of the heroic 300 Spartans who made their stand at Thermopylae through the eyes of a fictitious by-stander.
This book is fairly engaging though many parts do drag and take some time and dedication to get through.
If you're interested in Greek history and don't mind this not being a full blown history book it is definitely worth reading.
Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae | | | |
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