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Audiobook (abridged)7 hours
Tides of War
Written by Steven Pressfield
Narrated by Derek Jacobi
Rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
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About this audiobook
Brilliant at war, a master of politics, and a charismatic lover, Alcibiades was Athens' favorite son and the city's greatest general.
A prodigal follower of Socrates, he embodied both the best and the worst of the Golden Age of Greece. A commander on both land and sea, he led his armies to victory after victory.
But like the heroes in a great Greek tragedy, he was a victim of his own pride, arrogance, excess, and ambition. Accused of crimes against the state, he was banished from his beloved Athens, only to take up arms in the service of his former enemies.
For nearly three decades, Greece burned with war and Alcibiades helped bring victories to both sides - and ended up trusted by neither.
Narrated from death row by Alcibiades' bodyguard and assassin, a man whose own love and loathing for his former commander mirrors the mixed emotions felt by all Athens, Tides of War tells an epic saga of an extraordinary century, a war that changed history, and a complex leader who seduced a nation.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
A prodigal follower of Socrates, he embodied both the best and the worst of the Golden Age of Greece. A commander on both land and sea, he led his armies to victory after victory.
But like the heroes in a great Greek tragedy, he was a victim of his own pride, arrogance, excess, and ambition. Accused of crimes against the state, he was banished from his beloved Athens, only to take up arms in the service of his former enemies.
For nearly three decades, Greece burned with war and Alcibiades helped bring victories to both sides - and ended up trusted by neither.
Narrated from death row by Alcibiades' bodyguard and assassin, a man whose own love and loathing for his former commander mirrors the mixed emotions felt by all Athens, Tides of War tells an epic saga of an extraordinary century, a war that changed history, and a complex leader who seduced a nation.
From the Trade Paperback edition.
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Author
Steven Pressfield
Steven Pressfield is an author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays
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Reviews for Tides of War
Rating: 3.5621131677018636 out of 5 stars
3.5/5
161 ratings11 reviews
- Rating: 2 out of 5 stars2/5A bit slow in development and low on action for my taste.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pressfield is hard to fault in this historical fiction centred around the Athenian general Alcibiades. If I have any criticism, it is of the format, where one narrator is written entirely in italics for pages at a time, and the reader must be constantly on guard to remember which narrator is at work, and to plow through the italicised text without giving up in despair. I was fortunate to have read Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War before reading Tides of War, and this work fills in many gaps, particularly those glossed over by Thucydides. Whether this is a result of Thucydides' not completing the history to the bitter end, where Alcibiades plays a more prominent role, I am not sure. Nevertheless, Pressfield's research is evident, and while he admits that the work is historical fiction and he has exercised literary licence to make the story work, his approach, much like in Gates of Fire, is as clever as being independently wealthy. There are many themes, ideas, philosophies, and sentiments weaved in and throughout the story that force one to think about democracy then and as we experience it today. It is hard not to draw parallels of the end of the Athenian Empire with the end of the American Empire I would argue we are witnessing today. That said, Pressfield has not written a political commentary, but rather a story about individuals and their actions against a backdrop of social and political turmoil. The reader can only hope that Alcibiades was as great as he is depicted by Pressfield, and take solace in the extent of his foibles so that it might give lesser mortals a sense of hope despite their own inadequacies. Is this better than Gates of Fire? I think his earlier novel reads better, but the lessons to be gleaned from Tides of War seem less-clichéd than the done-to-death exploits of the 300 at Thermopylae, and for this, I think, this work deserves the gong. While George Bernard Shaw's masterpiece was, for him and me, Back to Methuselah, Pygmalion will always be the popular standout. I think it is the same with these two great novels of historical fiction, but you could do worse than to read anything written by this author.
1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5No Spartans. No fun.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Excellent. Pressfield ticks all the boxes.
The story of Alcibiades, somewhat sympathetically told, as he strives to win for Athens glory and success, which was ultimately to prove disastrous both for Athens and himself. Well written, obviously well researched, entertaining, but sad, for anyone who values the ancient Greek world, and Athens at the height of its cultural glory.1 person found this helpful
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Fiction: Novel based on the life & career of Alkibiades. NOT one of my favourites; tho' I picked it up from an Athens' bookshop's English language shelves, the language in it leaves much to be desired ...
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Not as good as "Gates of Fire" but interesting and still a good and fun way to learn some history.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Story of Alcibiades, Athenian noble, who changed sides during the Peloponnesian war one time too many, making enemies in almost every nation he ever served.Narrative is somewhat confusing and this may repel readers - I advise them to persevere, it's worth it.
- Rating: 5 out of 5 stars5/5Tides of War is a good historical novel. However, it's for readers that can tolerate a complex narrative that describes events over the 27 year span of the Peloponnesian War (431 to 404 BCE). The story is told through three narrators; a man interviewing his grandfather Jason who in turn was a lawyer who many years earlier represented Polymides who was a close confidant of Alcibiades. In other words, it's a description of an interview in which an older person is describing earlier conversations with still another person who told him about many still earlier conversations and events. These three narrators are fictional characters, however Alcaibiades was an actual historical soldier extraordinaire. Who was Alcibiades? Well, if you make it through this book you will never forget the name. The question I'm asking after this book is why is Alcibiades so relatively unknown?I find that the book's format allows the various narrators as they pass along the story to ponder the meaning of life and history during a time of war. In doing this the book gives a look into the thinking of the era. But to understand the book the reader needs to keep reminding him/herself who's doing the talking and when the current conversation being described took place. But the reader who becomes immersed in the story will be rewarded with a description of a time and place (the end of the classical period of ancient Greek history) that has the ring of authenticity. Socrates makes a number of appearances in the book. As a matter of fact, the climax of the story occurs on the same day that Socrates takes the hemlock. One can find many scary parallels with current international relations and domestic politics. In case you're not up on the details of the Peloponnesian War, the historic cradle of democracy, Athens, lost the war.
- Rating: 3 out of 5 stars3/5Another captivating education of Ancient Greece. Pressfield tells the story of Alcibiades, along with some timely morals about the perils of public opinion in a democracy.
- Rating: 1 out of 5 stars1/5Plot: I wish the book could decide on what the plot should be. The life of Alcibiades? The life of his assassin? It meanders back and forth between those two, connects them with some far too deus-ex-machina solutions, and generally fails to create any suspense or pacing. It's a collection of scenes, but they don't work together as a story.Characters: Characterization. Please. Some of it. Only one figure in the entire book ever manages to gain some depth, and that's someone who appears on perhaps five pages. The rest, including the main narrator and Alcibiades himself, are flat as cardboard. You learn nothing whatsoever about them. Style: A very odd narrative structure of a narrator (first person) telling what his grandfather (first person, again) told him about a prisoner he'd met a long time ago and the story that man told (in first person). Grandfather and grandson didn't serve any obvious purpose save to make page-long sections of the book be printed in italics. Other than that, horrid prose especially in dialogues, which are awfully stilted. Random Ancient Greek terms, which are completely pointless and never get picked up to turn into anything of importance.Plus: Not much. Minus: No characterization. Manages to fail at sticking to a plot that should have been foolproof. Annoying prose. Lack of historical accuracy. Far too many anachronisms. Summary: It's not only boring, but actually badly written as well.
- Rating: 4 out of 5 stars4/5Pressfield is an extremely talented writer. He provides more than the love and war writing of Bernard Cornwell. There is much more political and social context created here. I've learned more from his books, than I ever could from reading the classics. Tides of War is about the Peloponnesian War, and the role of the Athenian Alcibiades. Told from the perspective of Alcibiades' assassin, it is quite interesting, and a great read. A great story, well told.