NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Steven Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life.”—Pat Conroy At Thermopylae, a rocky mountain pass in northern Greece, the feared and admired Spartan soldiers stood three hundred strong. Theirs was a suicide mission, to hold the pass against the invading millions of the mighty Persian army. Day after bloody day they withstood the terrible onslaught, buying time for the Greeks to rally their forces. Born into a cult of spiritual courage, physical endurance, and unmatched battle skill, the Spartans would be remembered for the greatest military stand in history—one that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale. . . .
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"I loved this book because it taught me about real courage, the importance of training physically and mentally for hard times and about love of family and country unto death. Surpassed the movie,"300", which was on the same subject but maybe not Steven Pressfield's work.?." — Luckngrace (5 out of 5 stars)
"I loved this book because it taught me about real courage, the importance of training physically and mentally for hard times and about love of family and country unto death. Surpassed the movie,"300", which was on the same subject but maybe not Steven Pressfield's work.?."
" To echo what is elsewhere. An epic emotional superbly written and gripping novel. This is definitely in my top three books of all time and is regularly reread. I couldn't recommend this enough "
" this book is about the famous 300 !!! it is very good and whole lot more detailed than the movie or graphic novel, spends a lot of time on the training that spartans go through, and was very informative. "
" Covers the history and traditions of Sparta and the training of their soldiers. Told through the eyes of a servant to one of the leaders and the Battle of Thermopylae "
" Simply amazing. Anyone interested in ancient history or military simply must read "Gates of Fire." Steven Pressfield has an amazing gift for bringing his stories to the current day. "
" took me three years to get through it even though its not long. i kept getting distracted with other books, but always went back to this one. great epic war novel "
" Excellent book. Really interesting about the Spartans and sending 300 men to die...their deaths rallied the rest of Greece into halting the advance of the Persian Empire-really good. "
" The epic story of the defense of Thermopylae by the Spartans and their allies was inspiring -and very bloody. Pressfield is a master of making historical events come to life. Well worth the read. "
" A very good historical novel describing the same events set forth in the "300", except not in a cartoony, over-the-top kind of way. The raw historical facts make an even better story, but this is still fun book. "
" Great book, written very artfully. A good read for anyone who digs ancient history. "
" I only gave it 1 star because the option to give it <=0 wasn't available. "
" This is a pretty fast moving and inspiring historical novel. little bit of swearing but better than the rated R movie I'm betting. "
" Excellent story of ancient Greece/Sparta. "
" As an avid WWII buff, it's hard for me to say this, but... This is my 2nd favorite war novel. "
" Great story, great writing, great history lesson, and very fun. I learned a lot about the culture of the Spartans. "
" While the description of the batle is awesome enough, the hair-raisng description of the Spartan version of boot camp (virtually a life-long past-time) is worth the read. "
" A very fine novel, well written and researched. "
" This and The Journeyer are two of the best books I've ever read. Not just military history, there's also a love story and heroism. "
" A fun piece of historical fiction about the famous 300 Spartans. "
" A fantastic, gripping recount of the battle of Thermopylae. Fantastic reading from beginning to end. I went to work tired more than a couple of times based on not being able to put this book down. Must read. "
" I really enjoyed this book. "
" Read it, then go see the movie "300", then read everything that Victor Davis Hanson has written. "
" By FAR, the best book I've ever read (for this genre). Excelent, graphic, full of historic remarks and certainly give you the feeling of being a hoplite covered with bronze! "
" If I was stuck on a dessert island and had a choice of one book to read, this would be it. "
" Una descripcion formidable de la vida espartana. La novela es la base de la pelicula 300 "
" Read this book in Iraq, and I could not put it down. Its really, really well written. "
" Started a bit slow but I ended up really enjoying it with the minor annoyance of it being told in first person which I found a bit distracting but overall, well worth it. "
" One of those books you actually travel into the story. If you are reading this and become interupted by any pressing matters, odds are that you blame the nearest persian and swear to yourself he'll bleed untill the end of the day. "
" If you liked the movie 300 you should read this "
" Even if you hate macho right-wing war novels -- you must read this book! "
" One of my all time favorites. "
" Amazing war story mixed with the religious beliefs of Greece at that time. Press field mixes in modern grunt references to make an enjoyable read. "
" This book had me hooked from the start and often up well past when I should have been slumbering. The historical detail in this book combined with a sublime storyline puts this book high into my top 10 list. "
Steven Pressfield is the author of the hugely successful novels Gates of Fire, Tides of War, and Last of the Amazons, among others. His debut novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was made into a major motion picture starring Matt Damon and Will Smith in 2000. He lives in California.
Sir Derek Jacobi has had a long and distinguished career. He has toured in Becket and Uncle Vanya, and he received a Tony Award for his performance as Benedick in the RSC’s production of Much Ado about Nothing. His work in television includes the lead roles in Cadfael and I, Claudius, and his film credits include Henry V, Gosford Park, and Hamlet. His narrations have won him eleven Audiofile Earphones Awards.
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