The Virtues of War, Steven Pressfield
The Virtues of War, Steven Pressfield
5 Rating(s)
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The Virtues of War
A Novel of Alexander the Great

Author: Steven Pressfield

Narrator: James Langton

Abridged: 5 hr 51 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 10/19/2004

Synopsis

Told by Alexander the Great himself, this “sharp and colorful” (Washington Post Book World) novel presents a stunningly intimate account of the battles, the loves, the triumphs, and the tragedy of a man who conquered the world, from the bestselling author of Gates of Fire.

“Simply superb . . . Its expert pace, its vivid detail, its bone-crushing action, and its occasional piercing insights of sad eloquence make [The Virtues of War] an absolutely gripping read.”—Seattle Times

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—except the one he never saw coming. . . .

About The Author

Steven Pressfield is the author of the novels The Legend of Bagger Vance, Gates of Fire, and Tides of War. He lives in Los Angeles.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Lori on August 08, 2020

A great book about an even greater warrior! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this account of Alexander the Great. Instantly, it was 327 BC, and I was standing alongside him in the most fierce battles—fast-paced, storytelling account of one of the most feared warriors, King and most certainly, legend. Hi......more

Goodreads review by Myke on February 26, 2016

Virtues of War is what its title suggests, a treatise on the personality characteristics and decision making process of great warriors. It is, in the guise of narrative fiction, an instruction manual for leaders of troops, and is incredibly effective at what it does. I only wish I had read it before......more

Goodreads review by Clemens on December 24, 2021

**Should Read as 4.5 Stars!** Read this book in 2007, and its a wonderful standalone book about Alexander the Great. This tale is set between the years 356 until 323 BC and it will the rise, the conqueror of the Persian Empire before he was 25, and the end of his life at the age of 32. Alexander was a......more

Goodreads review by Aneliya on October 25, 2024

If you like to read about military strategy,Alexander’s army formations,weaponry and tactics used on his biggest battles started from Greece and finished in India,you have it .Alexander was a great conqueror and unbelievable strategic indeed.......more

Quotes

“Sharp and colorful . . . An extravagant exercise of the imagination.”—Washington Post Book World

“Simply superb . . . The Virtues of War is a battle book of camp and march, which Pressfield
does better than anyone. . . . Its expert pace, its vivid detail, its bone-crushing action, and its occasional piercing insights of sad eloquence make it an absolutely gripping read.”—Seattle Times

“The story of Alexander the Great is perhaps the greatest tale of battle and glory in human history, and Steven Pressfield tells it in brilliant, thrilling fashion. I turned the pages so fast I didn’t realize how much I was learning.”—Vince Flynn, author of Memorial Day

“If you want to know what it might have felt like to ride into battle with Alexander, read this striking book. From the mad rush of the cavalry to the trumpet of the war elephants, and from the solid bronze wall of the phalanx to the melee around the royal chariot, Pressfield has it all. The Virtues of War blends a scholar’s accuracy and a novelist’s eye.”—Barry Strauss, author of The Battle of Salamis and Professor of History and Classics, Cornell University

“Steven Pressfield has created a cracking, fast-paced contemporary retelling of the legend that is Alexander. This man was the greatest warrior of his time, possibly of all time, and Pressfield brings him alive for the modern audience with the verve and skill with which he conjured the heroes of Thermopylae in Gates of Fire. His first-person Alexander is a man who lives with the heart-blood of war flowing in every vein; he’s a hero, a general, a diplomat, and a scholar, but first and always, he is a warrior, a man who strives to hold his own integrity in the hardest of fields. Now more than ever, we need to remember what it is to live with integrity in the face of adversity. Steven Pressfield reminds us in style.”—Manda Scott, author of Boudica: Dreaming the Eagle

“In The Virtues of War Pressfield has tackled a subject worthy of his enormous talent . . . and triumphed again.”—Stephen Coonts, author of Liars & Thieves

“Wonderfully imagined . . . Stunningly graphic, intense and extraordinary.”—Nelson DeMille

“A tale as magnificent as Alexander, Warrior Supreme.”—W.E.B. Griffin

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