Gates of Fire : An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

The national bestseller! 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.... Richard Bernstein Gripping and swashbuckling...an excitingromanticstar-crossed story. — The New York Times A novel on Thermopylae, the 480 BC battle which went down in history as an example of heroism. For three days a small force of Greeks defended a narrow pass from a huge Persian army. Lots of detail on Spartan training and fighting techniques. Thousands of years ago, Herodotus and Plutarch immortalized Spartan society in their histories; but today, little is left of the ancient city or the social structure of this momentous culture. One of the few antiquarian marks of the civilization that has survived lies scores of miles away from Sparta, at a narrow Greek mountain pass called Thermopylae. It was there that three hundred of Sparta's finest warriors held back the invading millions of the Persian empire and valiantly gave their lives in the selfless service of democracy and freedom. A simple engraved stone marks their burial ground. Inspired by this stone and intrigued by the lore of Sparta, author Steven Pressfield has brilliantly combined scholarship with storytelling. Narrated by the sole survivor of the epic battle--a squire in the Spartan heavy infantry--Gates of Fire is a mesmerizing depiction of one man's indoctrination into the Spartan way of life and death, and of the legendary men and women who gave the culture an immortal gravity. Culminating in the electrifying and horrifying epic battle, Gates of Fire weaves history, mystery, and heartbreaking romance into a literary page-turner that brings the Homeric tradition into the twenty-first 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 historyone that would not end until the rocks were awash with blood, leaving only one gravely injured Spartan squire to tell the tale. . . . A novel that is intricate and arresting and, once begun, almost impossible to put down.Daily News A timeless epic of man and war . . . Pressfield has created a new classic deserving a place beside the very best of the old.Stephen Coonts 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. In Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield portrays the boldest & bloodiest battle fought by the legendary Spartan Army against the Persian Empire. The national bestseller! NATIONAL BESTSELLER • “Steven Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life.”—Pat ConroyAt 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.... Godine 480.pr.Kr. kod Termopila (Vruća vrata) na sjeveru Grčke odigrala se najveličanstvenija bitka za slobodu tijekom čitave povijesti čovječanstva. U uskom planinskom prolazu iznad Egejskog mora sukobilo se 300 spartanskih vitezova s nadmoćnim snagama perzijskog kralja Kserksa. Od samog početka bilo je jasno da će Spartanci izgubiti bitku. Zašto su ipak bili spremni poginuti? Priča zarobljenog roba Kseona otkrit će tajnu tog podviga i poslati svima poruku o neuništivom dostojanstvu jednog naroda. Vatrena vrata epski su roman naturalističnih prizora bitaka zbog čije će vam se uvjerljivosti činiti da gledate raskošni holivudski film. (source: back-cover) "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."--Page 4 of cover "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." -- Back cover Third day of Tashritu, Fifth Year of His Majesty's Accession, south of the Lokrian border, the Army of the Empire having continued its advance unopposed into central Greece, establishing an encampment opposite the eastern fall of Mount Parnassus, the sum of whose watercourses, as numerous others before upon the march from Asia, failed and was drunk dry by the troops and horses. År 480 f.v.t. bliver 5.000 græske soldater med en kerne på 300 udvalgte spartanere sendt på selvmordsmission, hvor de skal forsinke perserkongen Xerxes' 2 millioner mand store hær i et snævert bjergpas nord for Athen