442 pages
English language
Published Nov. 5, 1999 by Bantam.
The writer surely knows his job, as I was so entangled in the story that I kept thinking about the book a long after I finished it. Great characters, vivid action and fast-paced story that thrilled you in every chapter. Historical fiction at its best.
Maybe you've seen the movie 300 or read the graphic novel it was based on. In either case, you should be ashamed of yourself if you have.
The comparison is apt, and probably the best way to demonstrate the superiority of the novel, particularly since this novel and Miller's mess came out the same year. They both center around the legendary Battle of Thermopylae, but Pressfield clearly does it better.
So, what did Pressfield do right? First, it is clear that he has done much more research into ancient Greek society and the culture of the Spartans. He is further able to demonstrate the importance of this conflict, why it came about, and that it was a dangerous time to be a Greek. Further, everyone is human. The Spartans are not freaks of nature, and they are much more spartan in their conversations, deeds, etc. They are not concerned with …
Maybe you've seen the movie 300 or read the graphic novel it was based on. In either case, you should be ashamed of yourself if you have.
The comparison is apt, and probably the best way to demonstrate the superiority of the novel, particularly since this novel and Miller's mess came out the same year. They both center around the legendary Battle of Thermopylae, but Pressfield clearly does it better.
So, what did Pressfield do right? First, it is clear that he has done much more research into ancient Greek society and the culture of the Spartans. He is further able to demonstrate the importance of this conflict, why it came about, and that it was a dangerous time to be a Greek. Further, everyone is human. The Spartans are not freaks of nature, and they are much more spartan in their conversations, deeds, etc. They are not concerned with being flashy, but with getting the job done. The Persians are not the incompetent soldiers that can't land a blow on the Spartans without surrounding them first, and Xerxes is a compelling character in this novel.
The frame story, a servant of a Spartan warrior recounts his tale to the Persian royal historian, is a brilliant device. Because he is not Spartan from birth, we are able to get an outsiders view of Spartan customs, a view closer to our own. At the same time, his reasons for adoring these customs make sense to us, and further demonstrates the importance of this battle in the Greek-Persian War as a whole. It also allows for us to see the aftermath of the battle and get a more complete view of the war and a reason why the Persians lost.
What did Pressfield get wrong? Pressfield use to be a marine. And it shows. At many points, this is a huge advantage, giving the interaction between soldiers an authenticity lacking completely in Miller's version. At some points, though, it gets overbearing. The Spartan culture seems to be, almost entirely, held up as the ideal, what is most desirable in the society. Their more morally repugnant practices are only touched upon in a couple of sentences, and are otherwise shown as a sort of warrior pastoral utopia.
This is not enough to hijack the novel, though, and all in all, this is impressive writing that demonstrates that fighting a war, particularly a Spartan war, is tough. Specifically, it is work. The soldiers have to deal with fatigue, sore joints, exhaustion, fear, etc. All in all, Pressfield's vision is a more relatable, accurate, and intriguing one. Gone are the 'stylized' violence of 300, and good riddance. This novel clearly was crafted lovingly by the author, Miller could have added laser guns and fire-breathing space monkeys and no one would have noticed.
