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"Gates of Fire"
I'm re-reading Steven Pressfield's Gates of Fire. It's a historical novel concerning the stand of the Spartans at Thermopylae. I'll just say that it does for their epic what The Killer Angels did for Gettysburg. It's best war novel I've ever read.
Hard to decide which part I like best. Maybe the point when the Persians send over an envoy, who offers the Spartans control of Greece and much else if they will come over to their side. The Spartans tell him no. He asks to be taken to their king, and they say the king would flog them for even proposing such a betrayal. An old man in the ranks says, yes, the king would flay them alive for it, adding that he's a crusty old fellow, with a bad temper, barely literate and by now probably drunk.
The envoy notices the old man is 20 years older than the other troops, and they're all looking to him, and realizes he has just had his interview with the king.
I only wish the novel had taken account of Hans Delbruck's theory of why the battle came about. His is that they weren't hoping to hold the pass forever -- every pass has a way around it -- but were literally on a suicide mission.
The Persians were making incredible offers to Sparta, knowing that if it defected the rest of Greece could easily be won. The rest of the city states were relucant to commit to the fight, knowing this; why commit to an alliance, knowing that it might be undone at any moment?
Thermopylae was seen by most Greeks as essentially the boundary of Greece proper. So the Spartan King, and 300 of its nobility, make a suicide stand, and die to deny the Persians the first inch of Greek soil. That pretty well sends the message that Sparta is in the war to the end.
Comments
Sweet I'll make a point of reading it. I've long been a fan of the Spartans and their stand at Thermopylae.
Posted by: Beerslurpy at September 6, 2006 06:36 PM
Unfortunately, that wonderful DNA seems to have died with the Spartans, the Confederates, at the Alamo, and finally on the beach in Normandy.
Now we are neck-deep in....liberal DNA. The last few bits of Spartan blood are being hanged separately, (Like Richard Celera), because we won't hang together.
Every day we get the choice between slavery and rebellion...and so far, everyone pretty OK with slavery.
Posted by: robert at September 6, 2006 08:21 PM
I'm only listened to this in my car. But I do believe it is in the top 5 of war novels. I got the impression from what I heard that they knew it was a suicide mission. That made it even more moving to me. Basically every minute they held was time for the Greeks to organize.
Posted by: Mike A. at September 7, 2006 02:29 PM
Go, thou stranger passing by,
and tell the Commandant that here,
faithful to my vows, I lie.
Semper Fi!
Posted by: htom at September 8, 2006 10:59 AM