Gates of Fire

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Summary: Maybe the most inspiring book ever
Review: The Gates of Fire is the only book that made me cry. It is an epic book that praise the courage, the heroism, and the gentle values, that can be revealed in war, leaded by the faith for the greatest love that a man can feel; the love for his country.

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Summary: Fearless warriors of Sparta
Review: I haven't finished the book yet but, i already can tell you that this book is realy a value to those who are going to experience the same fear during operational conditions. With this i mean the fear during a close confrontation with an opposing force.

In those times. 480 B.C. Service men of Spartans were well trained soldairs. Just like some of us do now days. The real difference is that in the modern times it'll newer come to an allout close combat of 300 soldairs against a killing massive force 100 times bigger.

It must have been mad. Grownup, powerfull, brave men. urinating and doing the big dump caused by fear, while they are getting ready to slaughter each other.

I'm still trying to understand how they dealed with fear. I know that endless training and practice will teach "them" to control and use the element of fear as in positive means. Besides the technology availible nowdays makes it much more like a movie, computer game... Inpersonal... with this i'm also revering to Black Hawk Down. American service men have said that it seamed like a movie in Mogadishu. It wasn't. Seaming unreal still does'nt make the fear go away!!

We fear to die and fear being "the last one" even more.

I recommend this book not only because it's a good story, but it is importend to know how it could be in a battle. It is importend to think about what you would do, how you would feel, how you would react on impulses in case of... I dont know the answer. nobody can.

As Joel C. Labow explains. "As another reader said, this book should be required reading for those embarking on a military career...". I would say this book should be standard issue during War Academy education.

Rating:
Summary: Not Just Fire Ants
Review: The popular picture of Sparta has always suffered in comparison to that of Athens because the Spartans left nothing in the way of great architectural monuments or literary masterpieces. The Athenian playwrights in particular tended to treat Spartans as figures of fun...stalwart but slightly thickheaded. Others depicted them as voracious warrior insects, alien and devoid of human emotion...much as US servicemen saw the Japanese Kamikaze pilots of WWII. Even Mary Renault, the great popular historical novelist of classical Greece, had little to say about this warlike land. This gap has now been wonderfully remedied by Steven Pressfield. His novel brings to life a warrior culture that was not devoid of human emotion, but rather entirely focused on the common good. The motto of the US Naval Academy is "Not Self, But Country"...this could have been written in Sparta. His moving portrayal of the thoughts and feelings of fighting men preparing for battle is truly timeless. As another reader said, this book should be required reading for those embarking on a military career...it should also be required for national leaders before committing armed forces to battle.

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Summary: Heroic Tale, in first person narrative
Review: "Tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws, we lie."

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield brings back the battle of Thermopylae in a fictional tale told through a lone Spartan survivor from the bloody battle that took place in northern Greece. Historically, when the Persians, lead by King Xerxes, invaded Greece, the individual Greek city-states were not ready for such a war. City-states Athens and Sparta would lead a coalition of other city-states to form and amass their army. 10,000 soldiers, commanded by King Leonidas of Sparta, would be opposing their Persian aggressors; and they'd hold the Persians off with great success by leading them into a narrow path. But when the Persians found a way around the narrow path, the 10,000 soldiers had to be evacuated. Making a quick decision, King Leonidas organized a group of three hundred elite soldiers to hold off the Persians until the bulk of the army could retreat to safety. All three hundred of them would die...
This historical novel unfolds in flashback. Xeo, the only Spartan survivor of Thermopylae, has been captured by the Persians, and Xerxes himself presses his young captive to reveal how his tiny cohort kept more than 100,000 Persians at bay for so long. Xeo, however, begins at the beginning, when his childhood home in northern Greece was overrun and he escaped to Sparta. There he is drafted into the elite Spartan guard and rigorously schooled in the art of war - an education brutal enough to destroy half the students.
Throughout the novel, Xeo must face the hardships of the war academy, among many others. He's made a cripple when he was caught stealing a goose. For any man to be accepted to the Greek society, especially a Spartan society, one had to be able to fight in the ranks of the Greek hoplite. He was not able to hold a shield or carry a spear; rather, he enlists as a bowman into the elite Spartan guard.
The quotation I chose basically summarizes the entire book. This historical novel outlines the hardships each man were expected to burden to accept the heavy duty to defend his city-state. The three hundred men fight until each individual is defeated and can fight no more. The three hundred men had made up the elite Spartan guard; the most respected fighting force, much like the Navy SEALs of our era. The training is not easy, either. For many months, they grieve through life and death, each day offering more and more burden then the last.
In the war academy, the drill sergeants drill each soldier to the brink of their strength. There, Xeo and many others that would fight in his ranks overcome such hardships. Many would die of exhaustion and only the very best would be able to fight within the ranks of the elite Spartan guard. Alexandros, one of Xeo's best friends, must overcome the training despite the fact that he has asthma. He collapses several times in the book, but overcomes his handicap and turn out to be one of the bravest characters in the book.
They learn the value of each other's companionship, learn to fight together as one, for if one falls, they'd all fall. They learn not to disband their comrades, despite all costs. They all become very close, perhaps as brothers, to learn to trust each other and depend on one another in times of chaos. So close are their responsibilities to one another, that they'd punish anyone without a shield, but excuse those without a helmet and a breastplate. They'd excuse the loss of a breastplate and the helmet without penalty for such items are for personal protection; the shield holds the life of every man within its rank...
But despite all other things learnt from the war academy, Xeo and his fellow comrades learn not to abandon his country, no matter the costs. One was expected to give one's own life in service of their country whenever time allotted. The drill sergeants had stressed the power and the capability of each soldier, and the possibilities with such men when laid side-by-side, and stressed the importance of not to abandon his fellow comrades in time of battle.
Such things were to be tested when Xeo and his fellow comrades, joined to form the elite Spartan guard, were called upon to take their duty into the line of battle. Innumerable men, all under the highly respected king of Persia opposed them. But what they had learned and toiled through in the war academy proved true. All would fight gallantly until the very last one, fighting for their pride and honor.
The quotation is the epitaph on the monument that was erected on Thermopylae in remembrance to the bold men that changed the course of the entire Greek civilization. It shows such heroism each man was burdened with, taking their duty to their very death. It was truly a discreet inscription to such brave men - much more then R.I.P....

Now, if you've read all that, that's great, I congradulate you for having such patience with my awkward writing habits - but you're all missing my point here; it's an awesome read and I'd recommend it to anyone with the slightest hunger for a great heroic tale...

Rating:
Summary: SUPERBLY ENTERTAINING
Review: This book was manly, it was heroic, it was stoic, it was extreme, it was fascinating, it was endearing, it was full of comraderie, it was full of self-sacrifice, and the best part is it's based on a true life story - in fact, one of history's greatest upsets in all military world history.

This is the single best new work of "fiction" that I've read in years! I will definately read it again (...and again...and again, etc.) throughout my life. I can't say enough about this awesome tale.

I can't wait to read more from this author and his wonderful Greek novelisations.

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Summary: Come and get them!
Review: In 480 B.C., the Persian King Xerxes, with a force numbering upwards of two million men, met the Spartan King Leonidas, with a force of only three hundred Spartans and some allies, at the pass at Thermopylae. When Xerxes demanded that the Spartans lay down their arms to allow the Persians to advance, Leonidas responded, "Molon labe" - come and get them. What followed was probably the seven most heroic days in military history as the Spartans fought off the Persians and held the pass until the last man was finally overwhelmed and killed.

This outstanding book graphically tells the full story of this epic battle from the point-of-view of a gravely wounded Spartan battle squire captured by the Persians. If you are a war, history, or military 'buff,' or if you just love reading exciting and heroic stories, then you owe it to yourself to read this book. Pressfield's research and writing style brought the battle to life in my mind like no other book since Michael Shaara's Civil War classic, "The Killer Angels."

There is a famous ancient monument at Thermopylae that is inscribed with the words of the poet Simonides, that reads:

"Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by,
that here obedient to their laws we lie."

Those few words have taken on a new meaning to me. Read this book and you will understand why.

Rating:
Summary: Great historical novel
Review: The Spartans fought valiantly at Thermopylae. For each man that lost their life, many of the Persian opposition perished.

This novel explores the motivation of the people of the city-state of Sparta. Why would they go into a suicide mission? Why was there no upcry from the women to stop the slaughter of their sons and husbands? The characters reflect aspects of human nature that are timeless.

A warning to the squeamish -- some of the war scene descriptions are really graphic! I had to put the book down a couple of times because it became to much.

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Summary: Gates of Honor
Review: What an amazing read this book has been. I don't often read fictional accounts of war, but after seeing all the rave reviews here on Amazon, I had to order the book and it has been the most worthy time spent since I finished In Deadly Combat.

This book is all about sacrifice, courage, cameraderie, and above all, honor. A mere three hundred men held back the invading millions for an entire week to stem the tide of the Persian advance before it started ravaging Greek cities. So many comparisons can be drawn to 19th and 20th Century warfare it is unreal. German's leaving rearguard detachments facing certain death against Russians in WWII to let civilians escape the Red Tide. Japanese during the Pacific campaign leaving her soldiers to be killed in defense of the Empire. Our great Marines at the Frozen Chosin. It is amazing. And the Spartan warriors, along with her allies, were the first to do this.

An absolutely harrowing tale of a squire of the Spartan working-class who fought for freedom and democracy in its earliest stages. Shows you what it means to be a soldier even though most of us will never know the bonds forged in battle, and the selfless defense of one's country, no matter what nation you come from. Buy it.

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Summary: Extremely detailed and interesting story
Review: I want to preface my review by saying that to like a book like this, you need to like historical fiction, specifically greek/roman oriented stories, and you need to be able to appreciate a lot of historical detail, which can be very graphic at times.

Now that I've said that, this books is extremely detailed in how it describes the Spartan army and its practices, and it is very detailed in how brutal the world was back then. There are instances of rape, widespread murder, and brutal carnage. Yet the story also includes very interesting descriptions of how the Spartan society functioned and interacted with other Greek city-states.

Intermixed with these broad descriptions of the Greek world is the story of a young man who is orphaned and eventually finds his way to Sparta and into the service of the Spartan army. The story has a series of flashbacks that describe this boy's development into a man under the Spartan society while the story is moving ahead to the climatic battle of Thermopylae where the Spartan army, with a few other Greek armies, are attempting to slow a Persian advance into Greece to buy time for their countrymen to mobilize and organize a defense.

The book is very well written with a great deal of broad and narrow views of several characters while also maintaining a good flow in terms of the main character and the build up to the actual battle. A very worthwhile buy.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely one of the best war novels ever written
Review: Gates of Fire is an extraordinary piece of literature by Pressfield. The novel captures the essence of life in 480 B.C. and the life and deaths of ancient greeks in the struggle against the Persians. The novel is so well written, you can close your eyes and see it happen and be almost 2,500 years in the past fighting with the Spartan Hoplites. I recommend this book to anyone, especially members of the military. If this book is ever made into a movie, it will win the oscar for best picture!