300 book gates of fire

Xeones, a greek youth who becomes a squireslave after his city is overrun, learns about spartan culture from the veteran warrior dienekes before accompanying him and the other spartans, including king leonidas, to thermopylae. Go tell the spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie. When discussing gates of fire in a recent podcast episode, pressfield said the spartan culture was so different from ours, that writing a nonfiction book and just describing the people would have shocked people. This website is dedicated to king leonidas, the 300 spartans, 700 thespians and other greek warriors who fought to the death during the battle of thermopylae hot gates in august, 480 b. Notoriously, 300 spartans along with no more than 7,000 allied greeks, held off an. A king does not dine while his men go hungry, nor sleep when they stand at watch upon the wall. Steven pressfield is a wellknown author when it comes to the military fiction, nonfiction as well as the historical fiction. As with snyders 300, the narrative of gates of fire is delivered as flashbacks by a survivor of thermopylae. Gates of fire by steven pressfield the 300 spartans. Both are fictionalized retellings of the battle of thermopylae within the persian wars. It takes place after the main character xeones xeo for short has been nearly killed and is kidnapped by the persians to tell king xerxes about his life as a spartan slave.

Gates of fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by steven pressfield that recounts the battle of. Gates of fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by steven pressfield that recounts the battle of thermopylae through xeones, a perioikoi free but noncitizen inhabitant of sparta born in astakos, and one of only three greek survivors of the battle gates of fire is on the commandant of the marine corps reading list. Clooney was clearly enamoured by his proposed epic. One of the two best standalone books that ive ever read so far. The story continues through xeos childhood and jumps through the years to various points in his life. I believe this is the best of pressfields works, so it is nice to finally see this book in audio. Im starting to feel that historical fiction is the right genre to visit when im looking for amazing standalone books. The story is told by the lone spartan survivor of the battle, xeones. That being said, i really wish it was gates of fire instead of 300. The spartans are the heroes of this novel and were immortalized on film in the movie 300. The spartan and thespian last stand has been immortalized in the works of herodotus and glorified in the 1962 movie the 300 spartans starring richard egan, along with many other mediums consisting of.

The reader is right there on the battle field, a witness to the all horror that is handtohand combat. The film was directed by zack snyder, while miller served as executive producer and consultant. If you arent a comic book fan you might not enjoy it. Australia is the original publication place of the book. In gates of fire steven pressfield gives a narrative account of the lead up to the battle, the battle itself, and the aftermath. I was expecting a war story with a focus on the mentality of the spartan warriors, and this was indeed a significant part of the book, but it was ultimately more than that. More recently, steven pressfield published gates of fire my personal nominee for best novel of the decade. This one is infused with history and gives a better sense of what it was like back in the day.

I had no idea what i would do after the legend of bagger vance. One day i was reading herodotus the histories for probably the twentieth time when i came to this passage about the 300 spartans and the battle of thermopylae. There, a few hundred of spartas finest sacrificed their lives to hold back the invading persian millions. Well, it looks like gates of fire is a lot more historically accurate and realistic than 300. Instead, by introducing the reader to the spartans in the form of a boy who slowly gets to know them and then become one of the 300. Xeones sustains lifethreatening battle wounds, and he had been. Published in 1998, it was considered to be favored over 300 as the next movie about thermopylae to be released for the big screen. An epic novel of the battle of thermopylae kindle edition by pressfield, steven. The steven pressfield novel, gates of fire has raised awareness of the battle of thermopylae and the band of elite greek warriors collectively known as the 300 downloadread accidentally in. Thus reads an ancient stone at thermopylae in northern greece, the site of one. The scribe forewarns xerxes that the story contains much foul language, but the king wants to read exactly what xeones has to say.

Gates of fire is a 1998 work of historical fiction by steven pressfield centered around the famous battle of thermopylae 480 bc, in which a heavilyoutnumbered force of native greeks led by the spartans held the invading army of the persian empire at bay for several days. The time they bought enabled the greeks to rallysaving, according to ancient historian herodotus, western democracy and freedom from perishing in the cradle. Gates of fire is a story about the 300 spartans who went on to fight the biggest army in the known world the persians and millions of their soldiers. His acknowledgments at the end of the book cite some historians. It was filmed mostly with a superimposition chroma key technique, to help replicate the. Ancient history, cultural, fantasy, fiction, greece, historical, historical fiction, history, literature, military fiction, novels, war. My son nate recommended the book when he sent me a dvd of the movie 300, with gerard butler as spartan king leonidas.

The history, thoughts, descriptions, and emotions are a match like no other for the common grunt. However, what has unfortunately been overlooked due to the controversy surrounding the revisionism of 300 is the bestselling novel by steven pressfield entitled gates of fire. This book is about the battle of thermopylae in ancient greece, where 300 spartans fought to the death. Gates of fire tells the story of thermopylae, one of the most famous of ancient battles. I was wandering through waldenbooks with a coupon in my hand, unable to find any books that i truly wanted to buy when the cover of gates of fire caught my eye. I had been meaning to try one of your books even before 300 brought the ancient battle of thermopylae to public attention, so i shrugged, thought what the heck and. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 384 pages and is available in paperback format. A greek, who goes by the name xeones, gives his story to a scribe who works for the persian king xerxes. Unquestionably one of the finest books about the legendary three day defense of the pass of thermopylae, it has received many accolades worldwide and whose interest as a movie project still continues unabated. I believe you will agree with me right from the start that this is a book completely unlike 300.

Object greek citystates consisting of 300 spartan warriors, 400 thebans, 700 thespian volunteers and around 900. Original title isbn 9780553383683 published on 19981020. The first edition of the novel was published in october 20th 1998, and was written by steven pressfield. When i reread the excerpt that lcdr denver read i see key lessons in leadership exposed. This rare but excellent documentary explores life in the great ancient citystate of sparta and its legendary clash with persia in 480 bc. Teach your students to analyze literature like litcharts does.

An epic novel of the battle of thermopylae in the novel gates of fire, by steven pressfield, the author describes a battle between 300 spartans and the persian army who threatens to invade and take sparta. Gates of fire characters from litcharts the creators of. Gates of fire puts you at the side of valiant spartan warriors in 480 bc for the bloody, climactic battle at thermopylae. An epic novel of the battle of thermopylae pdf epub book. Gates of fire is my favorite book, 300 one of my favorite films. Chicago turabian humanities citation style guide pressfield, steven, gates of fire. Battle of thermopylae novels set in ancient greece novels set in ancient persia doubleday publisher books cultural depictions of xerxes i. A captive greek, named xeones, dictates his story to a scribe who works for the persian king, xerxes. Steven pressfield is currently working on a book about alcibiades. Steven pressfield subject person spartan warriors place greece 480 b. Gates of fire is a novel of the battle of thermopylae and what led up to it where a brave few stood against many.

In fact, i have only one minor quibble, in that the voice adopted for polynikes sounds like a. The main characters of this fiction, historical story are. Gates of fire book 33 of 52 books of titans reading list. In gates of fire, pressfield documents the battle of thermopylae in 480 b.

The film rights to gates of fire were purchased in january 1998. An epic novel of the battle of thermopylae by steven. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading gates of fire. These 300 spartans died to a man defending the pass against a force of over a million and the epitaph provided to them by the poet simonides, go tell the spartans, stranger passing by, that here obedient to their laws we lie, is perhaps the most famous in history.

Despite their eventual defeat, the greek forces became renowned for. Gates of fire is historical fiction set during the greek golden age, historically. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Lancelot by giles kristian was an amazing standalone and now, ive found gates of fire by steven pressfield.

But what truly appears to have killed gates of fire dead as a project was the 2007 success of 300, zack snyders adaptation of frank millers comic book about thermopylae. Concept xeones recounts his life leading up to the battle. Detailed explanations, analysis, and citation info for every important quote on litcharts. Gates of fire was not quite what i expected, but this does not in any way diminish its attraction. An insightful view of spartan culture and history from the point of view of a refugee who endures first hand the harsh military training and lifestyle of the spartan soldier. As much as enjoyed both, i was saddened by its success because i knew many people would take it as the definitive fictionalization of the historical battle of thermopylae. For an excellent rendition of the story, read gates of fire. Released a ways before the movie 300, gates of fire provides a different more sober but no less inspiring account of the battle and the men who took part in it, on both sides.

It is taught at west point, the united states naval academy, and at the. Gates of fire is a novel about the battle of thermopylae. Gates of fire is a must read for a soldier or any warrior. Download book gates of fire by author steven pressfield in pdf epub. Instant downloads of all 1291 litchart pdfs including gates of fire.