Gates of Fire

In 480BC, at a bleak pass in a far-flung corner of eastern Greece, 300 Spartans faced the army of Xerxes of Persia, a massive force rumored to be over a million strong while their orders were simple: to delay the enemy for as long as possible while the main Greek armies mobilized. For six days the Spartans held the invaders at bay. In the final hours - their shields broken, swords and spears shattered - they fought with their bare hands before being overwhelmed. It was battle that would become synonymous with extraordinary courage, heroism, and self-sacrifice: it is Thermopylae. In Gates of Fire, Steven Pressfield tells the epic story of those legendary Spartans: the men and women who helped shaped our history and have themselves become immortal.