The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
by Steven Pressfield
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Book Summary Information
Author: Steven PressfieldEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-09-27
ISBN: 0553382055
Number of pages: 368
Publisher: Bantam
Book Reviews of The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
Book Review: An epic Tale about one of the World's Greatest Warriors
Summary: 5 Stars
Passing in Review
"The Virtues of War", written by Steven Pressfield
Review by M. Vince Turner
July 2006
After reading two of Pressfield's other works, "Gates of Fire" about the Battle of Thermopylae and "The Tides of War" about the Peloponnesian wars, I was compelled to read "The Virtues of War". I enjoyed "Gates of Fire" and "The Tides of War" thoroughly. "The Virtues of War" surpasses both in its brilliance.
If you believe as I do that some people have lived previous lives at earlier times in history, then you will understand when I say that Steven Pressfield must have been an Ancient Greek warrior. Pressfield so affectively captures this time in world history it is all but impossible to believe he did not live it.
Pressfield has uniquely embedded himself into the personality of Alexander the Great in "The Virtues of War", lifting Alexander fully to life. This work is a narrative, Alexander telling the history of his battles to his brother-in-law Itanes, a brother of Alexander's bride Roxanne. It is fiction. Yet, is it really?
Even in fiction there must be some reality, some certainty, some truth. Pressfield brings to life that epic warrior, Alexander the Great, superbly. The battles are not the only challenges to face this Greek (Macedonian) warrior. Among his own men Alexander must mentor, reassure, scowl and scold. He must mentor, parent, coddle and punish.
At the beginning of "The Virtues of War", Alexander the Great is still a young man under the tutelage of his father, Philip. Upon the assassination of Philip, Alexander rises to and ultimately reaches his zenith as King. Pressfield does an excellent job revealing both Alexander's inner turmoil and his outer turmoil. Pressfield frequently refers to Alexander's "daimon", Alexander's inner god or alter ego. We each have one. Few ever capture or meet it. Alexander does.
"The Virtues of War" is not simply a book about war in an ancient time. It is also about psychology, the interaction of men hardened by battle after battle and then softened and spoiled by the rewards of their conquests. The few places where this work gets bogged down is in the detail of the makeup of the warring factions; how many of each component and what each component is by tribe or nation. Otherwise, this work flows well, keeping the reader engrossed in a tale boldly told.
While "The Virtues of War" is fiction, it is evident that Pressfield has considerable knowledge about this time in history and the cultures about which he writes. Some passages presage the warrior's dilemma in today's contemporary, modern world. Or, has Pressfield's clever looking backward through the lens of history injected that presage into history already passed?
Surely, this work must have been a labor of love for Pressfield, as there is so much energy in it. To create the detail that falls upon every page, to animate and resurrect Alexander the Great as if he lives today and to capture the personality not only of that epic warrior but those who served him well is no minor feat. "The Virtues of War" is a must read for anyone who enjoys reading about military action. While the reader will acknowledge this work as fiction, one cannot help coming away from it with that haunting question, "Where does fiction truly end and truth actually begin?"
Summary of The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
I have always been a soldier. I have known no other life. So begins Alexander?s extraordinary confession on the eve of his greatest crisis of leadership. By turns heroic and calculating, compassionate and utterly merciless, Alexander recounts with a warrior?s unflinching eye for detail the blood, the terror, and the tactics of his greatest battlefield victories. Whether surviving his father?s brutal assassination, presiding over a massacre, or weeping at the death of a beloved comrade-in-arms, Alexander never denies the hard realities of the code by which he lives: the virtues of war. But as much as he was feared by his enemies, he was loved and revered by his friends, his generals, and the men who followed him into battle. Often outnumbered, never outfought, Alexander conquered every enemy the world stood against him?but the one he never saw coming. . . .Historical Books
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