Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. 'No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again.'įorty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined. In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. I graduated from Duke University in 1965. Leading the Greeks are 300 Spartans who hope to delay the army enough for Greece to get together a defense plan.I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother. The Greeks have deployed a small army, 4,000 – 7,000 men against the Persians and chose to make their stand at the geographically advantageous Thermopylae. The Persian army, two million men strong, is marching onto Greece. If you were not, but ever wandered what makes the men click, this one is for you If you are, or were in a close knit combat unit, this book will bring back memories. The close brotherhood of the Spartan soldiers is something the author focuses on throughout the novel. If anything, glory in battle is rewarded after the fact, not during. The book does not glorify battles, in fact there is much misery, stench and carnage on the battlefield. Pressfield understands the notions of honor in the context of ancient Greece and writes about it in a moving, serious way.

I truly enjoyed the fact that the author pays attention to history and imagines what it would have been like for his protagonists to prepare for battle and death. The books is a fictional account of those who are about to die, know it, and still go forward contemplating life’s big mysteries and gaining appreciation for their comrades, and those they left behind. I loved to read about the problems facing the Spartan King and his army commanders, the soldiers and their servants.

Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae by Steven Pressfield is an epic book, the style is sharp, the story vivid, the history pretty accurate, and the moral dilemmas are still relevant in today’s military units. The book was published in 1998.īuy this book in paper or in electronic format* Gates of Fire: An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopyla by Steven Pressfield is a historical novel that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae.

Gates of fire novel