The Virtues of War by Steven Pressfield (ISBN:0553382055)

English (US)

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		The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
	
				(29 reviews)			
(685 Readers)

			Steven Pressfield		
	
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...more
 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. . . .   less

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
He was named "The great"

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
If you like battles, this is your book: 80% of it is descriptions of battles and battle strategies.  If, on the other hand, you want to learn about the life and times of Alexander the Great, the other 20% probably won't suffice.  Overall, I found the book to be a very worthwhile read: well paced, spiced with interesting anecdotes, and quite approachable to someone who knows little about the...more
 If you like battles, this is your book: 80% of it is descriptions of battles and battle strategies.  If, on the other hand, you want to learn about the life and times of Alexander the Great, the other 20% probably won't suffice.  Overall, I found the book to be a very worthwhile read: well paced, spiced with interesting anecdotes, and quite approachable to someone who knows little about the subject matter.   hide

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
A absolutely amazing book, the only problem i had with it is that it was too short

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							Shawn
						
							few weeks ago						
This was a short but interesting historical fiction that focused upon the military career of Alexander the Great.  I have come to appreciate Pressfield as an excellent writer of antiquity and he does not disappoint with this effort. It is one of his better works.  I liked the fact the focus of the story was upon Alexander's relationships with his military commanders. Many recent works speculate...more
 This was a short but interesting historical fiction that focused upon the military career of Alexander the Great.  I have come to appreciate Pressfield as an excellent writer of antiquity and he does not disappoint with this effort. It is one of his better works.  I liked the fact the focus of the story was upon Alexander's relationships with his military commanders. Many recent works speculate pointlessly on his sexual orientation and his relationship with mother.  Many of the men who rode with Alexander deserve recognition in their own right and the personalities of Ptolemy, Seleucus, and Perdiccas are drawn in greater detail than I had expected.  A very worthy book for those who want to avoid the sensational and salacious material on the Macedonian King.   hide

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							Giselle
						
							few weeks ago						
I love this book. Specially how the story is told. It basically breaks the barrier that had often kept the reader at bay and it is Alexander himself to tell you, as if you were his apprentice, how the story went. 
The detail on how the Macedonians lived; the strategies of the battles and the personal lives of each character is magnificently portray.
I surely recommend this book!

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
This book is such a disapointment, because I love Pressfield's 'Gates of Fire' and had great hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I know a bit about Alexander of Macedon and the glorified image of the man that Steven Pressfield paints in this book was at first slightly annoying, then irritating and in the end infuriating. If Alexander had a personal publicist, then this would be the book that this...more
 This book is such a disapointment, because I love Pressfield's 'Gates of Fire' and had great hopes for this one. Unfortunately, I know a bit about Alexander of Macedon and the glorified image of the man that Steven Pressfield paints in this book was at first slightly annoying, then irritating and in the end infuriating. If Alexander had a personal publicist, then this would be the book that this guy would have written.   hide

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							Cynthia
						
							few weeks ago						
I totally loved this one.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Such a disappointment after Gates of Fire.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Always a fan of his books. "Gates of Fire" is still my favourite. After thisone I feel compelled to read the original Greek source material.

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							A Reader
						
							few weeks ago						
Alexander the Great conquers the world spreading greek culture as far as the Indus river. Eventually he succumbs to meglomania and paranoia in his vain search for the ulimate glory, the easter ocean.

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