Kevin's Watch

After having this book on my bookshelf for a year or so, and after hearing lots of praise for it, from here and various other forums, I got around to reading it, and finished it yesterday, and I thought that it was an amazing book, and the next time I go to my local bookstore, I will probably be buying Pressfield's other works set in ancient Greece

as for the saddest part, I thought it was the last page, where the epitaph on the Spartan's grave was recited:

O xein angellein Lakedaimoniois hoti tede
keithma tois keinon rhemasi peithomenoi

Alright! Another voice! Good to see you, snake!
"an amazing book"
Everybody get that? Now go read the book!!

Anyone who is interested in history, in the ancient Greeks, in the birth of the Western world, in warfare, in dicussions of honor, or in courage would probably love this book.

Snake,

Unfortunately his other books, Tides of War, and Last of the Amazons do not approach the level of Gates. They are good solid reads and interesting at turns but not the masterpiece that Gates represents. I would recommend Amazons before Tides but read them both and give me your opinion. Glad you enjoyed the book!

duchess of malfi wrote:Anyone who is interested in history, in the ancient Greeks, in the birth of the Western world, in warfare, in dicussions of honor, or in courage would probably love this book.

Sounds like me. ....now, let me check my calendar...

Oh, definately a very worthy read, Joy!

Have you read a related book, THE TEN THOUSAND by Michael Curtis Ford? A fictionalized version of Xenophon, it looks like. I have it on a TBR shelf.

I have read it and did not enjoy it near as much as Gates. It may have been a good book but it certainly suffers by comparison. Read "Gates" Joy...you'll be happy you did!

I've been meaning to read the Ten Thousand, though I have yet to get around to it...

*bump*

Let's go folks!! This book needs more readers!

Funny: I was reading a book that was talking about the very instance of 300 Spartans fighting thousands of Persians. Perhaps it is a divine sign that I should pick up the book and read it?

I wonder though: how sure can we be that they fought so many Persians? What accounts/sources? I find it very interesting, and I would find it even more interesting if it were historically true. Of course, it very well could be, but I currently don't know.

Quote from the description of Ernie Bradford's nonfictional THERMOPYLAE: THE BATTLE FOR THE WEST.
"the three-day battle for the pass at Thermopylae (the Hot Gates)--a critical contest in Xerxes's massive invasion of Greece. The bloody stand made there by Leonidas and his small Spartan army in 480 B.C. has been hailed ever since as an outstanding example of patriotism, courage, and sacrifice."

It is historically true, Foul. There are still arguments about exact population counts given by ancient sources -- usually based on the assumption that the ancients always exaggerated their counts for some reason. But Xerxes' invasion of Greece was designed to be overwhelmingly large.

"Thermopylae" ... It gives a little more insight into SRD's concept of Angus's character in the GAP.

OK, here's some of the facts, as well as they're known.

According to Herodotus (born around 484 BC), King Xerxes brought 2 million men with him. Historians say the real number is between 150,000 and 300,000. Whatever the number, there were Persians, as well as men from many of the Persian empire's conquered areas.

There were 300 Spartans, and, until the last day of fighting, up to 7,000 other Greeks.

After waiting four days for the Greeks to run away in the face of the extraordinarily larger Persian force, Xerxes, seeing that the Greeks weren't leaving, attacked on the fifth day. The Greeks held the pass for three days.

On the seventh day (3rd of the actual fighting), the Greeks found out that a traitor had told the Persians about a secret pass through the mountains that would let them come up behind the Greeks, surrounding them. All the surviving Greeks then went home, since their mission to stall the Persians was obviously finished.

All but the Spartans. They stayed to fight to the death. (In GoF, the remaining Thespian's also stayed, but I haven't read that anywhere else yet.)

Fist, We just rented and watched, THE LAST SAMARAI, in which the character Nathan Auburn refers to the battle of Thermopylae. I didn't know all the story. That's interesting.

Yeah, I smiled when Tom Cruise said that too. I've mentioned that there was a great comic book about it too, called 300. It's written and drawn by one of the biggest talents ever in the comic field, Frank Miller.

But there's nothing like the emotion of GoF!! As well as various other aspects of the book.

If you haven't read this book you are depriving yourself of one of, if not the best pieces of historical fiction ever! Period. It really is that good!

OK ok. I am going to get it right away. I promise.

Great! Let us know when you've finished it!

I'm slow............but I'm good. ; )

OK, I'm gonna let that one go without commenting, Cate. Just keep us posted on your progress with reading the book.