Thousands of years ago, Herodotus and Plutarch immortalized Spartan
society in their histories; but today, little is left of the ancient
city or the social structure of this momentous culture. One of the few
antiquarian marks of the civilization that has survived lies scores of
miles away from Sparta, at a narrow Greek mountain pass called
Thermopylae. It was here that three hundred of Sparta's finest warriors
held back the invading millions of the Persian empire and valiantly gave
their lives in the selfless service of democracy and freedom. A simple
engraved stone marks their burial ground. Narrated by the sole survivor
of the epic battle - a squire in the Spartan heavy infantry - Gates of
Fire is a depiction of one man's indoctrination into the Spartan way of
life and death, and of the legendary men and women who gave the culture
an immortal gravity. Culminating in the electrifying and horrifying epic
battle, Gates of Fire weaves history, mystery, and heartbreaking romance
into a literary page-turner that brings the Homeric tradition into the
21st century.