Product Description

Ambitious, exciting follow-up to the bestselling Gates of Fire, chronicling the devastating conflict between Sparta and Athens that became known as the Peloponnesian War.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #25229 in Books
• Published on: 2001-03-05
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 604 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
If readers of epic historical fiction are influenced in their literary choices by successful films in the genre, then the timing of Steven Pressfield's Tides of War could not be better, with the cinematic release of Ridley Scott's Gladiator. Ironically, the very qualities that distinguish Scott's movie are here in greater concentration: tremendous historical sweep; strong, well-defined characters and bloody confrontations. The one area in which Pressfield definitely possesses the edge, though, is the fierce intelligence and rigorous authenticity of his remarkable book. As a picture of the ancient world, it is nigh unbeatable but it is the characterisation of the soldier protagonist Alcibiades (who becomes a central figure in the war between Athens and Sparta) that is Pressfield's greatest achievement.

Alcibiades is a brilliantly wrought conflation of ancient and modern sensibilities, the perfect conduit into this savage world. On the battlefield, Alcibiades has never known defeat but his success has created ill feeling among his political opponents in Athens. A trumped-up charge of treason forces him to flee to Sparta, where he engineers a series of military triumphs. However, his heart lies in Athens and, through a series of savage confrontations (both on the battlefield and in the equally dangerous political arena), he moves inexorably towards his unwritten destiny. It will be no surprise to the readers of the equally impressive Gates of Fire that this exuberant panoply of a far-off age is so luminously rendered. --Barry Forshaw

Synopsis
His name was Alcibiades, kinsman of Pericles and protege of Socrates. Undefeated on the battlefield, Alcibiades fled to Sparta after being forced to leave Athens when a trumped-up charge of treason was made against him. There, he was instrumental in guiding its legendary army to triumph.

From the Back Cover
ONE MAN. TWO ARMIES. THE FATE OF THE ANCIENT WORLD IN THE BALANCE.

His name was Alcibiades. Kinsman of Pericles, protégé of Socrates, immortalized by Plutarch, Plato and Thucydides, he was an audacious soldier and charismatic leader without equal. And he would come to dominate the Peloponnesian War, the devastating twenty-seven-year conflict between Athens and Sparta that brought Greece to its knees at the end of the fifth century BC.

Undefeated on the battlefield, Alcibiades' popularity - and his political aspirations - fed the resentment of his rivals in Athens who secured his death warrant on a trumped-up charge of treason. Escaping to Sparta, he proved intrumental in guiding its legendary army from one military triumph to the next. Ultimately though, it waas Athens that would claim his fiercest loyalty, their destinies inextricably interwined.

In an epic story filled with triumph and tragedy and ringing to the sound of battle, the acclaimed author of GATES OF FIRE once more breathes brilliant life into the bones of ancient history to paint a dazzling portrait of a remarkable man whose fortunes mirrored the ebb and flow of the tides of war...

Customer Reviews

A Creative Masterpiece
Having read 'Gates of Fire' I found myself equally impressed by the scholarship and detail of Pressfield's account of the complicated events of the Pelopennesian War and ultimate defeat of the Athenian democratic ideal. True this book is a read requiring more of its readers than Gates of Fire in terms of the scope of the conflict and political machinations of the characters but their personalities commit themselves to your memory in the same way and demand your attention and empathy. Pressfield writes like a poet and a philosopher, requiring his audience to engage with the intellectual concepts of his re-created world. It is not designed to be a superficial, blood-and-gore romp and if read as such will leave the reader confused and unsatisfied. It is about the lengths to which necessity drives a man and what he is prepared to endure to realize his dreams and live with honour.

Superb
I have read many fine historical novels....this one of the finest of those.
Pressfield brings out the character of one of the most enigmatic and capable generals/leaders in history-Alcibiades. A man of vision, a warrior in the truest sense, a leader of people who garnered both love and hatred, a man of vision, a man of Necessity.
Told mostly through the eyes of Polemides prior to what he was expecting to be his execution for treason and murder this is a great and mature novel whether it is describing significant battles of the Peloponnesian Wars, political intrigue or the philosophy of Socrates.
The epic description of the siege of Syracuse is magnificent,blending the land battles almost seamlessly into the seaborne Athenian attempt to escape the harbour.
Huge in scope,vivid in drama,eloquent,at times thoughtful and reflective this is easily the best novel I have read about the wars between Athens and Sparta.

Praise for the Tides of War
It isn't hard for me to say the Tides of War is probably my favorite of Mr Pressfields historical novels and to recommend it as a truly rewarding reading experience.

On the face of it the Tides of War may seem over ambitious as Pressfield tries to cover 29 years of war and strife between the Greek superpowers of their day, Sparta and Athens in the Peloponnesian War of 431BC-405BC form all angles at once (using his now patented method of disjointed interlocking first person narratives) when maybe a simpler structure would have sufficed and for this reason many people have maligned this novel and written it of as a dud. I though would like to present another point of view.

The Tides of War may not have the grand heroic sweep of the Gates of Fire or more character insight than in The Virtues of War or any of the mystical allure of the Last of the Amazons but the Tides of War is in one word; Human.

Mr Pressfields portrays his characters with amazing insight and humanity. Alciabiades is bold, brilliant, beautiful, a politician of great skill and a commander of superb courage until seduced by false pride and ambitions of everlasting glory. The other main characters Pommo and others have moments of triumph and joy but mainly suffering and loss, the stuff of real life and in their own ways are endemic of the main thread which weaves the Tides of War together. For while there is much suffering in the novel, both physical and mental, the sufferers also exhibit certain virtues, even when they have contributed disastrously to there own downfall Mr Pressfield's characters at times of adversity exhibit tragic dignity and glorious heroism but as in real life there is no redemption, consolation, or escape.

Pressfield's great achievement is to illustrate through the tapestry of the Tides of War that necessity is deaf to all prayers and the Fates on their shuttles of adamant weave countless inescapable devices so withstanding all our planning and maneuvering for the future the necessary will occur and we can only hope the tide turns our way but knowing it will eventually turn against us.