Gates of Fire
Someone asked me recently how I find the books I read, and I replied, “often they find me.” Steven Pressfield’s Gates of Fire is a perfect example. I’d heard Pressfield interviewed several times before, but it wasn’t until a recent episode of the Huberman Lab podcast that I realised he’d written a historical novel centred on the Battle of Thermopylae. For those unfamiliar this is the same battle depicted in the film 300.
Take the film and multiply it by a thousand in terms of richness, depth, and emotional weight, and you’re getting close to what Gates of Fire delivers. At over 500 pages, or just shy of 15 hours in audiobook form, it’s no small commitment, but it’s well worth the time if you’re up for it. The audiobook narration is superb and further elevates the experience which isn’t always the case with audiobooks.
Unsurprisingly, 300 could only scratch the surface of this story. Pressfield goes much further, providing further character and story background, context, and developing the emotional complexity that a 2 hour film can’t capture. He doesn’t pull any punches with the language, using vivid, uncompromising dialogue to capture the raw human emotion as well as the brutality of battle.
The story of the 300 Spartans marching to their deaths is well known, but Gates of Fire takes it further than you’ll have experienced from film or brief research alone. It’s a study of courage, discipline, loyalty, and the warrior code. It’s about the message their sacrifice sent and how it ignited the spirit of Sparta and Greece to stand against Xerxes and the Persian Empire. Although this is written as fiction, it serves as an epic exploration of human spirit under impossible circumstances.
If you’ve heard Pressfield interviewed before you’ll likely have heard him reference “the Muse” in his creative process. His prayer to “the Muse” was answered in full force with this one!
Who’s it for?
Fans of Greek or Spartan history, military strategy, or ancient warfare should enjoy this one. Beyond that, anyone who enjoys powerful storytelling, rich characterisation, and epic-scale narratives will also appreciate it.