Rating: 
Summary: A Page-Turner on Par with "The Killer Angels"
Review: Steven Pressfield's vivid account of the desperate delaying action of the Spartans and their allies against the Persians at Thermopylae in mid-August 480BC is one of the finest books of its type that I have ever read. It stands right up there with "The Killer Angels". Pressfield's historical novel is billed as "epic" and that it is. After almost 2500 years the heroics of King Leonidas and his men spring to stark life by virtue of Mr. Pressfield's eloquent prose. Outnumbered by, according to some accounts (Herodotus), as much as 100 to 1 the stand of the Greek allies is one of the great stories in human history. However, Pressfield goes beyond that and makes the cruelty of Spartan society live as well as its nobility. I highly recommend this, especially if you have any interest in warfare or ancient history.
Rating:
Summary: Great! Absolutely Great!
Review: The Gates of Fire is, without a doubt, the best book I have ever read. In all honesty I could not put it down and being a student it really messed with my study habits for a couple of days. I thought the author did an outstanding job writing the book. I was at the edge of my seat for 4 days until finally I had finished. It opened my eyes to a whole new world of valor, pride, duty, and love. I was seriously impressed with the book and look forward to his next work becoming available next month.
Rating:
Summary: Best book I have read in at least 5 years
Review: I was rivited and stayed up all night to finish this book. I do not know if it is a masterpiece, but it is fantastic, fantastic entertainment.
Rating:
Summary: Gripping and powerful story that is well told
Review: Being an Army officer, it is always interesting to read as how others depict the life of the common soldier. This book is interesting in that it does two things well: it tells of the timeless truths as to what makes soldiers successful in combat, and the book gives the reader insight into a civilization that has long ago vanished in our past. I highly recommend this book.
Rating: 
Summary: Couldn't finish this one
Review: Two chapters in and that was that. Boring! It's still on the shelf with a bookmark for some desperate, rainy day without something better to read.
Rating: 
Summary: In defense of the novel...
Review: This is actually a response to the above reviewer. I think he/she may be confusing the Spartans with the Sacred Band of Thebes who paired up with a lover.
Rating: 
Summary: An Interesting Failure
Review: Thermopylae is a story worth telling, and I'm a sucker for stories of foot soldiers who go on when they know it's hopeless, so I came to the book in a receptive mood. I was disappointed.Pressfield does the historical novelist's job of plausibly recreating a different world. He has certainly done his research about the mechanics of hoplite combat. It is well known that the social position of women in Sparta was far superior to that in most Greek city-states, that they ran the economy while the men trained for war, and that, unique to Sparta, they were given rigorous physical training to make them strong mothers of healthy children. Pressfield uses this information to give a credible picture of a society where men are free to work at being men because strong women really run things. As to homosexuality, I don't think he shies at that fence at all. The relationship between Dienekes and Alexandros isn't gone into in graphic detail, but it is perfectly clear. What goes wrong is that he doesn't communicate his values through the action of his story. His characters are as speechy and preachy as those in Heinlein's Starship Troopers, which the book somewhat resembles. Pressfield doesn't trust the pathos of Thermopylae to speak for itself without maudlin rhetoric, and he falls into tear-jerking sentimentality. The coda, with the surprise conversion of one character to belief in the Spartan way of life, rings absolutely false.
Rating:
Summary: Not too Bad, but not accurate
Review: The book is well written but not accurate. The Spartan Life is not described accurately nor is the homosexuality of the Spartan Warriors dealt with in any real way. The Spartans great strength in battle was due to the pairing of "love bonds" between soldiers. This is not dealt with at all. It weakens the story. I had heard that this book is to be made into a film. I do hope that this inaccuracy is corrected. In our times of anti gay biases, we do well to see that gays are very capable soldiers (indeed, the best in history). If the Spartans had not died at Thermopylae, then Western Civilization would not have flowered. There would not have been Rome nor anything else. We would be speaking Persian now. Just a thought..
Rating:
Summary: What a good book!
Review: This is a fictional account of the Battle of Thermopylae from the point of view of one helot soldier of the Spartan army. The book starts with how he was orphaned at a young age, spent time hiding in the forests with his cousin and their mentor, then how he came to Sparta. A lot of the book involved the training of Spartan soldiers and how the philosophies of Sparta differed from the philosophies of the remainder of Greece so that the Spartans had such a fearsome military. It also told the story of how Spartan women were trained and were considered different from the other Grecian women, how Spartan women were actually trained in military matters and were freer than their contemporaries in Athens and elsewhere. Then the last quarter of the book deals with the actual Battle of Thermopylae. The 300 Spartan warriors knew before they marched out of Sparta that they were to die in this battle, that they were a sacrifice to buy the rest of Greece time to plan a major battle against the Persians, that they were to hold out as long as they could but to die fighting. It was an excellent book! I could hardly put it down. A comment to the reviewer who complained that there was no mention of homosexual love -- there was also no mention of heterosexual love.
Rating:
Summary: A great read
Review: A great story of not only a battle, but the people who took part in the greatest stand in history. the story of a boy who grew to manhood ready to die in the name of his adopted city.
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