War is hell. Steven Pressfield really pushes that home in Gates of Fire. No guns, no bombs, no drones. Pure human struggle. This makes it seem even more raw, more visceral than today’s at what sometimes seems like disconnected war. The bodies stack up and and up. Men are fighting on top of them. They’re up to their shins in gore, slipping and sliding, trying to maintain a grip on their killing sticks. It’s told through two sets of eyes. One of Xeo, a spartan squire, and the other set that of Xerxe’s historian, who is documenting the tales of the battle being spun from Xeo’s perspective. The zeal with which these men fight for their country seems almost unachievable. The violence and battlefield conditions are absolutely brutal. What gets me most, is how their courage and waxes and wanes, ebbs and flows, just like how it would with any of us. These are the legendary Spartans, and still they experience such fluctuations in intestinal fortitude.
Camraderie is paramount within the Spartans. They may not all get along at all times, but when it really matters, they come together to form an almost unstoppable force.
What I gleaned from this book to make it a Better Book.
- Courage and duty are never rock solid 100% of the time. What matters most is you continue even when they wane.
- People can be just and noble on either side of opposition. Each can think that they are doing what’s best for them, and both are probably correct.