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Title details for Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield - Wait list

Gates of Fire

An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

by Steven Pressfield
George Guidall
Audiobook
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Wait time: About 3 weeks
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0 of 3 copies available
Wait time: About 3 weeks
Gates of Fire puts you at the side of valiant Spartan warriors in 480 BC for the bloody, climactic battle at Thermopylae. There, a few hundred of Sparta's finest sacrificed their lives to hold back the invading Persian millions. The time they bought enabled the Greeks to rally-saving, according to ancient historian Herodotus, "Western democracy and freedom from perishing in the cradle." How did the Spartans accomplish this superhuman feat? This is what the King of Persia hopes to learn from the sole Spartan survivor. The squire's story indeed reveals the incredible rigors of Spartan training-and more importantly, how the whole culture fostered the mindset of fearlessness. Steven Pressfield has skillfully combined scholarship and storytelling to bring the whole world of ancient Sparta brilliantly to life. George Guidall's dramatic delivery enhances the richness and feeling of this inspired recreation.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    February 1, 2013

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781464037474
      • File size: 429923 KB
      • Duration: 14:55:40

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Gates of Fire takes the listener back in time to the battle of Thermopylae (480 B.C.), in which a tiny force of Spartans fought to the last man to hold off a huge force of invading Persians. Derek Jacobi is brilliant--his soldiers are terrifyingly gruff, and his breathless account of the fighting is so vivid that one can almost smell the blood. With a lesser reader, the novel's structure might have been confusing, but Jacobi's ability to subtly alter the timbre of his voice and the style of his delivery to differentiate narrators makes it perfectly clear. All in all, a masterful feat of storytelling. Homer would have been proud. D.B. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine
    • AudioFile Magazine
      Guidall's voice has an antiquated quality, a timeless weightiness that gives gravity to his readings. All of this makes the historic novel one of his strongest formats, a point amply made in this performance. Pressfield's novel follows Spartan warriors to the climactic battle at Thermopylae, where their hundreds sacrifice themselves to ward off the Persians' superior numbers. Guidall's narration is full of yearning and loss. He makes the sense of tragedy palpable throughout. That the novel sometimes feels inert--because of both the passivity of the narrator and Pressfield's penchant for speechifying--is a deficiency Guidall cannot fully overcome. But he does make it more palatable. M.O. (c) AudioFile 2000, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      Starred review from October 19, 1998
      Pressfield's first novel, The Legend of Bagger Vance, was about golf, but here he puts aside his putter and picks up sword and shield as he cleverly and convincingly portrays the clash between Greek hoplites and Persian heavy infantry in the most heroic confrontation of the Hellenic Age: the battle of Thermopylae ("the Hot Gates") in 480 B.C. The terrifying spectacle of classical infantry battle becomes vividly clear in his epic treatment of the Greeks' magnificent last stand against the invading Persians. Driven to understand the courage and sacrifice of his Greek foes, the Persian king, Xerxes, compels Xeones, a captured Greek slave, to explain why the Greeks would give their lives to fight against overwhelming odds. Xeones' tale covers his years of training and adventure as the loyal and devoted servant of Dienekes, a noble Spartan soldier, and he describes the six-day ordeal during which a few hundred Greeks held off thousands of Persian spears and arrows, until a Greek traitor led the Persians to an alternate route. Rich with historical detail, hot action and crafty storytelling, Pressfield's riveting story reveals the social and political framework of Spartan life--ending with the hysteria and brutality of the spear-thrusting, shield-bashing clamor that defined a Spartan's relationship with his family, community, country and fellow warriors. Literary Guild and Military Book Club selections; film rights sold to Universal Studios for George Clooney and Robert Lawrence's Maysville Pictures; UK rights to Bantam, Spanish rights to Grijalbo Mondadori, Italian rights to Rizzoli.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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