Steven Pressfield - Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

Pros: Gripping and enjoyable read. Pressfield understands the warrior heart.
Cons: More explanation of archaic terms would bring them further to life.

Last month, I stood on sacred ground. A tiny hillock near the sea, insignificant today to the masses speeding by on the Hellenic National Road. Even the simple, flat, marker atop the hill is invisible to all except those who make the short walk up the ...

Pros: Splendid cast of characters. Thrilling recreation of an amazing battle.
Cons: Some may find the discussion of Greek customs to be boring.

In 480 B.C., 300 Spartans and their allies defiantly stood at a narrow mountain pass to defend against the massive Persian army of Xerxes, which consisted of more than 250,000 men (some reports claim more than a million). Despite the seemingly overwhelmin ...

Pros: An eminently readable novel that dispenses some history lessons in the process.
Cons: Some few may find the introduction of so many ancient Greek terms disruptive.

In 1962 I was a young, impressionable male teen. Not surprisingly, I was inspired by those courageous and manly men to be found among athletes and historical figures. One Saturday matinee I chanced upon the movie The 300 Spartans....

Pros: Gripping, dramatic, bloody but still some humanity left.
Cons: Grisly descriptions. Don't eat and read at the same time.

My first reaction to Gates of Fire was -- this is not a woman's book. Well, it isn't! But since most of us sat through ancient history classes, many with a boring teacher, wanting to get as far away from this, we might change our minds after reading...

Pros: A wonderful history lesson, and a humbling example of the nobility of the human spirit.
Cons: Knowing ahead of time how it ends.

Pressfield is a master wordsmith! Through his novel, he introduces so much more than 'just' history: we meet virtuous heros who live and die by their values; wise & humble leaders who fathom the depth of their responsibility and strive to earn the...

Pros: Extremely well written in precise and historically accurate detail.
Cons: Nothing.

Gates of Fire is a well written, historically accurate, and engaging account of the Battle of Thermopylae. The author pain stakingly paints a picture of everything from Spartan society, the geographical layout of the battle, to how this particular...

Pros: Good Writing. Excellent Historical Novel.
Cons: Not exactly page turner at all points - but Pressfield's best book

Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire was a very good read, perfect for taking on an airplane or vacation. When compared to Pressfields other major work (Legend of Bagger Vance), I would recommend this as your first read. Pressfield shows an ability to...

Pros: Homer himself would be proud
Cons: The tragedy that is human self sacrifice

Gates of Fire recounts the classic true to life tale from Greek history of when, threatened by an invading Persian army of somewhere between 200,000 and 2,000,000 (depending on which historical source you believe), the Greek city state Sparta dispatched...

Pros: Interesting reading
Cons: historical discrepancies

My friend from a karate club recommended Gates of Fire to me. I borrowed the book from the library. The overall impression is good. The story is well written. The author did pretty good research on the Spartan way of life. The first thing that poked into...

Pros: Full marks for texture and authenticity
Cons: Minor auctorial slips

As the hints so kindly remind me, I'll refrain from once more summing up the plot; see some other opinions here to get an idea.
Having got to read the odd historical novel, I find myself responding to the authors' ability (or inability) to evoke...

Pros: Incredible language, it catches at every empathetic bone in your body.
Cons: Graphic battle scenes might disturb some sensitive readers.

This book has the ability to stand among the greatest novels, historical or not, of all time. Stephen Pressfield is either an incredible writer, or he was incredibly impassioned by his subject.

Who would not be interested in reading this...

Pros: An excellent read, very different
Cons: Took Amazon 5 days to get this to me

Gates of Fire is a novelized version of the actual events that happened in the epic battle of the Persians invasion of the hellenes at the gates of Thermopylae around 480 BC. Pressfield tells the story from the perspective of a Spartan slave who...

Pros: Character development, shows ambiguity
Cons: Distances the audience from the action

Gates of Fire is an interesting book, and, fortunately for me, it provides plenty of fodder for this review. However, this is unfortunate for the reader, for while Pressfield shows clear evidence that he is a talented writer, the book is too...

Pros: Awesome story, great writing
Cons: none (unless you don't like history at all)

I have had a fascination with ancient Greece and Rome ever since fifth grade when my class spent a trimester studying those cultures. Since then, I have read volumes on them and even majored in philosophy due largely to the fact that Plato and Aristotle...

Pros: It is so bad, parts of it are funny
Cons: Major internal inconsistencies, poorly written, anachronisms, historically inaccurate

The historical novel Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield has received almost universally good reviews. It received outstanding reviews in both the New York Times and the New York Times Book Review, and good reviews in The New Yorker and USA Today. As of ...