About this title: Go tell the Spartans, stranger passing by, that here, obedient to their laws, we lie. Nearly 2,500 years ago, in 480BC, at a bleak pass in a far-flung corner of eastern Greece, three hundred Spartan warriors faced the army of Xerxes of Persia, a massive force rumoured to be over a million strong. Their orders were simple: to delay the enemy for as long as possible while the main Greek armies mobilized. For six days the Spartans held the invaders at bay. In the final hours - their shields broken, swords and spears shattered - they fought with their bare hands before being overwhelmed. It was ...
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Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780553580532ISBN:0553580531
Description: Acceptable. Overall below average used book. May have highlighting, underlining, notes, price sticker on cover, or be an ex-library book. read more
Description: Acceptable. Shows definite wear, and perhaps considerable marking on inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Doubleday
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780385492515ISBN:0385492510
Description: Good. Book club edition. DJ shows light chipping and edge wear. Light soiling on sides of book. Pages are yellowed, but clean and unmarked. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780553580532ISBN:0553580531
Description: New. New-This book has not been read and shows no obvious defects. It may have a remainder mark. Our ultimate goal is to provide you with a satisfying customer experience. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Mass Market Paperback
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 1999
ISBN-13:9780553580532ISBN:0553580531
Description: Good + Cover has chipping, bumping, marks and a sticker on the front, dent damage to top edge of book near spine-Marks on edge-Light dents-Pages are in good reading condition. read more
Description: Good. Light shelf wear and minimal interior marks. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Bantam Books
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9780553383683ISBN:055338368X
Description: Very Good. Normal, average shelf-wear. No markings of any kind. Very good. Small business. Personal service. Thanks for looking! : -) read more
Description: Very good. Very Good Paperback-Inside is clean & unmarked & in very good condition-Outside shows shelf/reading wear w/lite scuffing to book edges & small bends in covers-Please see our feedback! read more
"Great book, have read a couple from this time but this one stands out with a great narrative, based on the facts, the characters come alive, and the storyteller wraps you with great ability, if you are looking just for facts search somewhere else, this is a great story based on the historical facts, but not a scientific book"
"This is a marvelous piece of historical fiction about the Spartans, with particular attention given to their extraordinary battle at Thermopylae. The book has fantastic character development and gives great insight into the "Spartan mindset". One such gem was the Spartan conception of Kingship: "I will tell His Majesty what a king is. A king does not abide within his tent while his men bleed and die upon the field. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. A king does not command his men's loyalty through fear nor purchase it with gold; he earns their love by the sweat of his own back and the pains he endures for their sake. That which comprises the harshest burden, a king lifts first and sets down last. A king does not require service of those he leads but provides it to them. He serves them, not they him." Beautiful gospel echoes here..."
"I must admit that I became interested in the topic of the Battle of Thermopylae after seeing the movie 300, based on the graphic novel of the same name by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley. I know, not the most gloriously intellectual path to take to a historic novel.
Pressfield's book does a good job of rendering ancient Greece, not just military practices, but society and daily life. Though the Spartans don't have any great technology past the sword and the plow, theirs is a society that is organized and predictable in a modern sort of way. I could never be a Spartan peer (has no discipline, cowers under attack, really likes showers, etc) but I could be a merchant in the protected city. One area that the book spends a great deal of time in is describing the drilling, practicing camaraderie of soldiers. At times I felt there was a little too much idolized, back-slapping, jocularity, but as a sports fan I know it is easy to idealize the clubhouse of a championship team, (the Spartans certainly were the cream of the crop) so they probably did enjoy themselves a bit while on tour.
As a writing device, I also appreciate one of the more believable narrator contrivances I've come across in a historic novel. Xeo has been taken captive, and is being mined by the Persian's for military and sociological information. Perfect! Believable and it makes sense why anyone would be recording a common man's account of daily life in ancient Greece. It even allows for some historical explanations after the fact - even after Xeo dies (spoiler alert, lots of people die), there is a historian that finishes the story for us. Pressfield does an adequate job with the battles (I kept thinking of the movie and the generally stunning visuals during these parts - not a fair comparison) and if this were more of a fictional tale, I would have been disappointed, but for purposes of a historical novel they are well done.
The strength of this book is how much information is packed into the story without it collapsing the tale."
"Gates Of Fire was a great book by Steven Pressfiled about the few Spartans that fought off a million Persians in the battle of Thermopylae in ancient Greece. What I really liked about this book was how vividly Pressfiled described the battle sequences throught the novel and how he seemed to be able to bring them to life right out of the pages. The main reason I was atrracted to this book was after watching and loving the movie 300 I wanted to explore the life of Greece,Spartans, and the legendary battle of Thermoplyae. Yes, some of it is pretty gory and bloody but it almost needs to be if it is to seem truly realistic. The book was a little slow at first but it soon picks up pace and flows well all the way to the end (which was spectacular). Any fans of the film 300 or war buffs would love the book but it's definatly not for everyone. The book is similar to the movie 300 but different in how the Persians are portrayed. In 300 they are seen in quite a negative point of view, but in Gates Of Fire they are simply an enemy or a threat that must be removed. After reading the book it encouraged me to go out and learn more about the battle of Thermopylae and the Spartans that fought it. I went online and read some various articles about it and learned quite a bit. While I was researching it I found that the book was quite accurate to the actual events which made me appreciate it even more knowing that it was true and acurate to the real life event. One thing about the book that I disliked was that I wish the author had allowed the readers to get to know the characters a bit better. I felt somehow disconnected from them and what they looked like in the novel. I think that area of the book could have been improved, thats one of the things that I really liked about the Harry Potter series was how well you felt you knew all the characters and what they were like. Thats the only reason Gates Of Fire recieved four stars from me, a lack of character development. Overall however it was a great novel that I would reccomend to people for its great creativity of the battle sequences and how well described the events are."
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