Gates of Fire

Rating:
Summary: While worth the time and goosebumps
Review: This I believe has been the only book in a long time that had me thinking about it after I closed the book. It is a very inspirational book, feels like you could go out and fight for the honor of anything that is right. This book also made me mourn for the courgous men that gave their lives those couple of days. A very very good book.

Rating:
Summary: 2480-year-old lessons yet to be learned...
Review: Especially recommended for modern readers who may have bought into the idea that women should serve in combat, or may think that "Don't ask, don't tell" is as important as "Duty, Honor, Country." "Gates of Fire" makes the reader feel the strength of the bonds that join fighting men and enable them to perform extraordinary feats of valor. I predict that military veterans who read Pressfield's masterpiece will be heard grunting "He's got it right." And that those who have not served (nor bade farewell to fighting men departing to do battle) will better understand that war hasn't changed very much since 480 B.C., nuclear weapons and microprocessors notwithstanding.

Rating:
Summary: Epic tale of warrior courage.
Review: This is a wonderful book of the ancient world that makes it plain why our contemporary life is based on ideals for which those extraordinary people fought. It details the Spartan way of life that prepared men for battle, but contains the wisdom to prepare anyone for any difficult task. The story swings along, the characters are richly drawn. You will never forget Thermopolea. Pressfield has written a masterpiece.

Rating:
Summary: Vivid, moving paean to the Spartan military culture
Review: Veterans of infantry combat as well as serious students of military history will enjoy this novel, which is firmly grounded in classical sources yet written in today's vernacular.

Rating:
Summary: Heartbreaking, unforgettable, thrilling.
Review: Churchill could have been referring to the Spartans at Thermopylae when he spoke his immortal words about the RAF in the Battle of Britain. "Never have so many..." Steven Pressfield manages to elicit both awe and heartfelt gratitude for a handful of brutal warriors who sacrificed their lives on a remote battlefield 2500 years ago. It is both interesting and chilling to think what might have happened to Greece, to democracy and to our civilization if they had acted in a more "reasonable" way.

Rating:
Summary: Guaranteed to send shivers of admiration up your spine.
Review: Although I have read much involving ancient Greek history, I have never come across a work of historical fiction that did this subject justice. Until now. Pressfield takes you into the training camps and barracks of the Spartans, the greatest warriors who have ever lived. You feel what it must have been like to maintain yourself in absolutely peak fighting condition. The book explains how these men were taught to endure pain and keep fear under control. And Pressfield describes the battles the Spartans fought in a manner that brings home the horror and destruction that ensued when heavily armed phalanxes glittering with the sheen of burnished steel crashed together in mortal combat. His description of Spartan valor and discipline will send shivers of admiration up your spine. This is a man's book, and one you won't soon forget.

Rating:
Summary: Great Story. Average Writing.
Review: I'll just say that Pressman's narrative style detracts from the book, as a whole. Confused, almost anarchic at times, it's clear that he's attempting to preserve the flavor of this as a 'told' story...on the other hand, it still has to be intelligible as a story...

Rating:
Summary: Laughable
Review: The author is so committed to his rather weak trope -- that of a helot retelling the story -- that he fails to construct a compelling, or even competetant narrative. It IS a great story, but that doesn't save this book.

Rating:
Summary: And dying, died not.
Review: This book is taking the nation by storm. I have seen in in the airport and in farmer's trucks, on rural booksellers shelves and in malls. In an Age of relativism and sophistry that runs to the highest offices, its crucial to present evidence of human greatness and the good things that result from it and how it can permeate a culture from top to bottom. Not only is this a book about growing up facing real choices, but it asks what leadership is from the bottom to the top of society, of man and woman. Its sure to open the floodgates of Hellenic revisionism further. Readers of Victor Davis Hanson will like this book as will most farmers and soldiers.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful story telling of mans courage facing a known death
Review: This book literally transports you to the battlefield of Thermopylae where the reader camps with the 300 Spartans and their allies. The invading Persian Army will sweep across Greece unless valuable time is bought. The combat scenes are powerful, brutal and show the courage of men fighting for their homeland.The saga of brave men in conflict reminded me a great deal of the writings of Stephen Ambrose whose recent books about American soldiers in World War II showed us how men fighting for a cause they believe in can accomplish almost anything. This is a wonderful story that is well told.