Cover of Gates of Fire

Book · 2007 · Fiction

Gates of Fire

An Epic Novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

by Steven Pressfield · Recommended by 8 people on 5 podcasts

Why people recommend it

Gates of Fire by Steven Pressfield is a celebrated historical fiction novel that portrays the epic Battle of Thermopylae through the eyes of a Spartan soldier. The book receives widespread praise for its vivid depiction of combat and its timeless resonance. On Modern Wisdom, Chris Williamson and guest Derek Sivers admired Pressfield's writing formats, while Lulu Cheng Meservey noted on How I Write that the novel is an evergreen fixture on the Marine Commandant's reading list. Ryan Holiday praised Pressfield's works on The Daily Stoic, noting that despite being only decades old, Gates of Fire carries the ancient weight of a classic text, and mentioned re-reading Pressfield's writing guides whenever starting a new project. Holiday has also directly recommended the novel to guests like Brooke Wells. Admiral James Stavridis recommended the book on The Daily Stoic for anyone seeking to understand the realities of combat, and Lex Fridman praised it on his podcast as one of the finest historical fiction novels ever written about the Spartans.

Who recommended it

Ryan Holiday — 8 mentions
Discussed
“and then I have on my wall I have the last page from the typ written manuscript of Gates of Fire signed by the author”
Discussed
“I would have I would have read uh Gates of Fire right around this time also cuz I remember buying that on Amazon um and then it it got lost and I had to buy I I remember writing to Amazon Customer Serv to get another copy and so I which is still the one that I have upstairs in”
Recommended
“His books are great. Oh, they're the best.”
Recommended
“you know what you know what's amazing about a book like Gates of Fire is that it was it's only like I don't know 20 years old or 30 years old but feels like it's like a thousand years old like when somebody does something I guess even the war of art but but when somebody does something and it's”
Discussed
“you know what you know what's amazing about a book like Gates of Fire is that it was it's only like I don't know 20 years old or 30 years old but feels like it's like a thousand years old”
Recommended
“Like I read—whenever I start a new project, I read one of Steven Pressfield’s writing books again, just from cover to cover. Um, and I feel like there’s something in the way that you did it that, um, you know, is the difference between depth and width, and I think you’ve created something that has a greater depth and value”
Discussed
“as always this is my copy of war of art her new Pro the artist Journey Gates of Fire”
Recommended
“or he has this novel called gates of fire that's amazing”
Steven Pressfield — 4 mentions
Discussed
“It's like for me writing Gates of Fire and setting a story in ancient Greece with the Spartans, the part of the reason I did that was so you could talk about honor with a straight face.”
Discussed
“then what came after that was Gates of Fire book about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae never have thought of either of those books”
Discussed
“The Legend of Bagger Vance and Gates of Fire.”
Discussed
“Not whatsoever, because if you think about, like, the second book was Gates of Fire for me. And as I was writing it, I thought, who's going to possibly be interested in this?”
Derek Sivers — 1 mention
Recommended
“I think that Steven Pressfield's books, both of them, are fantastic; that format's great. Oliver Burkman's most recent one is very similar to yours, and I think that was zeroing in on a new, very concentrated type of, so like, purified version of writing. And I'm here for it.”
Lulu Cheng Meservey — 1 mention
Recommended
“There are some books that are always on there, like Gates of Fire, which is about the Battle of Thermoy, which is a wonderful, wonderful book.”
David Perell — 1 mention
Discussed
“Talk to me about Gates of Fire by Stephen Pressfield. It's so good. Yeah.”
James Stavridis — 1 mention
Recommended
“um a book that i often recommend to people who want to understand uh what it's like for people in combat is gates of fire”
Lex Fridman — 1 mention
Recommended
“also his books gets a fire about the Spartans and the Battle of Thermopylae the Lionsgate tides of war and others are some of the best historical fiction novels ever written”
Joe Rogan — 1 mention
Recommended
“and I'm going to get into games of f Gates of Fire tonight I'm going to get into that tonight”

Also mentioned in the same episodes

Other mentions (6: passing, ad reads, own books)
Own book
“then what came after that was Gates of Fire book about the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae”
Own book
“And then I have on my wall, I have the last page from the typewritten manuscript of Gates of Fire signed by the author. Yeah, I have a bunch of those little totems too, myself.”
Own book
“You know, and I think that where my attention goes when I'm really doing it right, like if I'm writing a book like Gates of Fire or something like that, my attention goes to that world that is being created kind of through me, but not by me in the moment, you know?”
Own book
“it's called a man in arms and it's a novel”
Passing
“the war of art gates of fire The Legend of Bagger Vance the Warrior”
Own book
“one is Gates of Fire and the other is tides of War”