Gates of Fire
First edition | |
| Author | Steven Pressfield |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Genre | Historical fiction |
| Publisher | Doubleday |
Publication date | October 20, 1998 |
| Publication place | Australia |
| Media type | Print (hardback) |
| Pages | 400 |
| ISBN | 978-0-385-49251-5 |
| OCLC | 38916930 |
| 813/.54 21 | |
| LC Class | PS3566.R3944 G38 1998 |
Gates of Fire is a 1998 historical fiction novel by Steven Pressfield that recounts the Battle of Thermopylae through Xeones, a perioikos (free but non-citizen inhabitant of Sparta) born in Astakos, and one of only three Greek survivors of the battle.
Gates of Fire stresses the literary themes of fate and irony as well as the military themes of honor, duty, stoicism, and esprit de corps. It has enjoyed popularity in the United States Armed Forces, being included on the 2011 and 2017 editions of the U.S. Army Chief of Staff's Professional Reading list and on the 2013 Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list.