Product Description

A protege of Socrates and living effigy to the Demi-God Achilles, the universally-renowned Alcibiades was a terrifying foe and a priceless friend. His unequalled military genius determined the outcome of the shocking and monumental 27-year civil war between Spart and Athens in the 5th century BC.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #19272 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

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...

About the Author

Steven Pressfield was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother. He graduated from Duke University in 1965. His struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in his 2002 book, The War of Art. Mr. P has worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. He has picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.

With the publication of The Legend of Bagger Vance in 1995, Mr. Pressfield became a writer of books once and for all. His writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code--internal rather than external--in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that Pressfield has labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in The War of Art) and the technique for combating these foes can be described as "turning pro."

There's a recurring character in Mr. Pressfield's books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like Mr. Pressfield's conception of art and the artist:

"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."

Customer Reviews

Mature and moving
Pressfield's previous book, Gates of Fire, is a ripping yarn. Tides of War is much different. It is a much more mature work, and strangely moving once you learn to empathise with the main characters.

Like in life, Pressfield's characters are varying shades of grey - deeply flawed, making valiant attempts at self-justification.

The background to this tale, the Peloponnesian war, is a difficult conflict to comprehend. In effect a civil war, one doesn't expect outrageous acts of heroism similar to those described in Pressfield's depiction of the Persian wars. Add to this the remarkably complex character of Alcibiades and the uneasy decline of the principal nation states of Athens and Sparta.

What the author has achieved is remarkable: he breathes life into an ancient and distant culture, made the crazy decisions of the Athenian powers seem plausible, and turned the central character into a slightly deluded superstar of his time.

I think this was a difficult work for Pressfied to create, but he has pulled it off.

An ancient subject with modern relevance
It is hard to believe that this is the same author who wrote 'Gates of Fire', not for reasons of quality but of style and subject. To compare them would be a fruitless exercise because they are so dissimilar and set out to educate and entertain very differently.

One of Pressfield's outstanding qualities as a writer is his ability to impart a consistent mood to his works; his character depictions and style of writing follow the dominant mood he intends to convey. In this book the mood is one of subversion of virtue to expedience, betrayal, fickleness and political machination. The difference between Doric and Ionian individual values and how those values were subverted to become the handmaidens of expiediency to achieve political ends - to the ultimate political destruction of both sides - underpins the entire work.

One of the value shifts explored was from personal sacrifice for the good of the community to personal gain as more important than the good of the community. This shift has been echoed in recent times by the American Democratic Party and Britain's Labour party finally reaching the realisation that they were unelectable if the centre piece of their policies remained individual sacrifice for the greater community good. For this and many other reasons, such as power projection and 'hearts and minds' politics to prosecute a war, Pressfield's book has an astonishing modern relevance.

Even though Pressfield's narrative contains some archaic constructions to give the book a 'contemporary feel', he uses modern language in dialogue to better allow us to empathise with character who is speaking. The effect is pleasing and works well.

I would not hesitate to recommend this book to anybody who has an interest in the Pelloponesian wars, or an interet in the study of what makes charismatic people tick.

An absolute satisfying read
I love this book for its depiction of Alcibiades and Polemides - Pressfield totally brings them to life. On the one hand you have an exploration of a man who can be best described as the archetypal hero who's looks, fearlessness and military brilliance ultimately lead him to his downfall at the hands of the envious and corrupt. On the other we have a villain, a fallen hero whose paths and decisions lead him to be an assassin and a traitor. Their lives are intwined through the brutality of the Pelopenessian wars which Pressfield breathes life into through scenes of battle so engaging that you become so fully emersed you can feel your own eyes widening.

In short its a great story of ancient warfare, politics and lifestyle and one of my personal favourites.