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    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
    Unavailable
    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
    Unavailable
    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
    Audiobook12 hours

    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great

    Written by Steven Pressfield

    Narrated by John Lee

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this audiobook

    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. . . .


    From the Trade Paperback edition.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherPenguin Random House Audio
    Release dateJul 8, 2004
    ISBN9781415918494
    Unavailable
    The Virtues of War: A Novel of Alexander the Great
    Author

    Steven Pressfield

    Steven Pressfield is an author of historical fiction, non-fiction, and screenplays

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    Reviews for The Virtues of War

    4/5

    162 ratings12 reviews

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    • 5/5
      Incredible read. If we can go by what history says of this iconic and mythical figure then he was by far the most superior tactician the world has ever or probably ever will see. I understand this is a work of fiction and the writer does take some liberty with the material. Well written...the battles are intimate and intense while the glory is there, Alexander takes great care to convince his men that glory comes second, staying alive and winning is non-negotiable and paramount.
    • 4/5
      Enjoyed reading it but way too many names = Macedonians, Greeks, Persians, etc. Plus place names. I think it might have been better to delete some of the names but then maybe it wouldn't feel that authentic. It's basically Alexander's dictation of life events and included some of the conflicts he may have experienced between high ideals and the truth of war.
    • 3/5
      Alexander himself narrates this retelling of his life as conqueror. I enjoyed it (though I caught myself skimming ahead any time he waxed poetic about those titular "virtues"), but I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't already interested in this historical period. This isn't your average light, plotty historical fiction read - it's more manifesto than military adventure.
    • 3/5
      Pressfield always creates for me the feeling of being there, but this one didn't impress me as much as his earlier works. It's so directly about Alexander that it's more of a historical biography than historical fiction. It's still a captivating read and elucidating.
    • 5/5
      Wouldn't it be neat to have an interview with Alexander the Great in which he tells of his life as a soldier in a very introspective manner. Short of a time machine, this novel provides the next best thing thanks to Stephen Pressfield's ability to crawl inside the mind of the world's greatest conqueror. The story as told in Alexander's voice covers the spectrum of language from noble rhetoric to earthy solder's vernacular as it narrates the stories of horror and triumph. The battles are described vividly and concisely. The flow of the narrative congers up within the reader the visceral excitement and fear of an outnumbered military force confident of their ability to prevail in spite of impossible odds.Their subsequent problems related to trying to govern the conquered territories is also told in a most engaging way. It's interesting to note that some of the problems Alexander faced in the areas we today call Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan had vague similarities to current difficulties in those regions. The winner of the military battles often times is overwhelmed by the subsequent political and cultural conflicts.How can there be any virtue in something as terrible as war? That was my first response to the book's title. There's enough gore and cruelty described in this book for a 21st Century reader to find it to be an anti-war tale. After the victory over Persia, it was difficult for Alexander to maintain the moral of his army. The virtue of war as seen from his perspective is that it gives men a sense of purpose and a goal to work toward. I think his thinking is summarized in the following quotation from the book in which Alexander reflects on the Battle of Hydaspes, his last major victory.'Let me speak instead to the significance of the fight. What it meant to me and to the army. It was everything we needed---a contest of heroic scale against a foe who stood his ground and dueled with honor. At conflict's end, the field was ours, indeed, but, far more important, we had preserved our antagonist Porus's life and the lives of as many of his Ksatriyas as possible; we had been able to act toward him and them with integrity and restraint; and we had conquered not only a stubborn and manful foe but our own factious and recalcitrant selves.'A case can be made that Alexander the Great made the greatest impact on human history of any single person. It's difficult to imagine the history of Western Civilization without his exploits. The golden age of Greek may very well have been lost to history if Alexander hadn't made Greek culture the standard for Western Civilization. Without the foundation of Greek culture the Roman Empire may have never existed, at least not as we know it. And without the Roman Empire, what would have been the history of the western world? In that regard, Alexander was successful based on his own goals. The following quote from the book is of Alexander scolding his troops for plundering after the Battle of Issus.'Do we march for plunder, brothers? Is gold our aim, Like merchants? By Zeus, I will cut my own throat if you tell me you believe that. It is enough to rout the foe, to prove ourselves the greater Brutes? Then build my pyre. I will kindle it myself before yielding to such want of imagination and such deficit of desire. Fame Imperishable and glory that will never die -- that is what we march for! To light that flame that death itself cannot quench. That I will achieve, and by the sword of Almighty Zeus, you will work it with me, every one of you! 'In Mr. Pressfield's parlance, Alexander felt within himself the existence of a 'daimon.' Alexander's voice returns to reflect on his inner daimon numerous times during the book's narrative. I have subsequently researched that term to try to see what the author, through Alexander's voice, was trying to say with it. It is true that 'daimon' is the Greek derivative for the English word 'demon.' However, in the context of ancient Greek culture it was more likely considered to be an intermediary spirit between humans and the gods. Therefore, Alexander would have perceived it as an inner spirit that provided divine guidance telling him when he needed to take action on certain issues.One thing I appreciated about Mr. Pressfield is that he provided a 'Note to the Reader' at the beginning of the book where he acknowledged several places in the book where he deviated from recorded history. He explains that he did it in the interest of the theme and the storytelling. I think Alexander would agree with the changes. At the very least it saves the reader the need to worry about the deviations.Alexander was very much a tyrant when judged by modern standards. It's interesting to note that the Greeks of Athens and Sparta didn't consider Alexander to be Greek. To them he was Macedonian. When Alexander left Greece to conquer the east, he needed to leave half is forces at home to maintain control of the home country. It's interesting to note how often the tyrant ends up being an outsider to the home country. Some recent examples are; (1) Napoleon was Corsican, (2) Stalin was Georgian, and (3) Hitler was Austrian.
    • 3/5
      Virtues of War didn't have the same charm of his other books "Gates of Fire," and "Tides of War." I don't know whether it is because I found Alexander the Great a less interesting character than Alcibiades, or crossing the Hydaspes less compelling than holding the Pass of Thermopylae. This story, while it touches on the unique aspects of Macedonia, gives fewer insights into the ancient world than we glimpsed of the Spartans in "Gates of Fire." While the persistent refrain of the story seems to be that our enemies are more like us than we would like to think, there are few examples of this in the story other than Alexander and his generals saying it to themselves and one another over and over again. If you have an interest in a readable, condensed look at the battles of Alexander the Great, this may be the book for you. For me, however, this is not Steven Pressfield's best.
    • 3/5
      4 stars for the battles, 2 stars for the story:Steven Pressfield's novel is listed as historical fiction, and I suppose that it is. However, there is virtually no plot. The whole story is fight after fight- which to some may seem interesting, but I found it boring. Don't get me wrong, the descriptions are incredible, and it seems as if we are actually at the scene of the battle. Steven Pressfield is obviously a talented writer. I enjoy reading about battles, just not an entire book about them. But I didn't feel any emotions. I wasn't excited at the victory, and found myself skimming pages just to see if there would be anything of interest later on in the chapters. Alexander the Great is undeniably one of the greatest generals who ever lived, and obviously war was a large part of his life. But this story- didn't make me go "Wow". If you're only interested in battles, then you'll probably like this book. But if you're like me, and you want a plot along with the battles, look elsewhere. I'd recommend Mary Renault's Alexander trilogy: Fire from Heaven, The Persian Boy, and Funeral Games; or A Choice of Destinies by Melissa Scott; or Lord of the Two Lands by Judith Tarr; or even A Murder in Macedon by Anna Apostolou aka P.C. Doherty. All of these books are historical fiction about Alexander the Great. They all have battles, but they also are about his life, his companions (friends/enemies), and his emotions.
    • 3/5
      I found this to be a moderately good book - probably more so because I'm relatively ignorant of Alexander's life. I picked this up because I was so impressed with Pressfield's Gates of Fire.This is basically a similar-themed book, down to having it be a first-person account told to an up-and-coming officer.As one might expect with a title like "The Virtues of War," the book is a bit evangelical. I began to get upset about halfway through, since it seemed so ridiculously one-sided. After all, Alexander basically conquers the known world for his own glory. And there isn't anything wonderful about that; it's the same conceit and selfishness of Napoleon or other great generals who decide to declare war.However, towards the end, this description is increasingly moderated by the character of Hephaestion, who is the only really sympathetic character to modern readers. Other generals and characters are likable, but remain too numerous to get attached to, with the possible exception of Black Cleitus.What seems strangely absent is any mark of Alexander. He makes speeches and is of course the central character of the novel, yet I don't get a feel for him - other than his strange belief that a spirit is driving his actions. Ok, and he likes to fight and feels appropriately-placed sorrow, but otherwise he remains a blank map.The redeeming feature of this book is the battle descriptions, which are very well done and describe complex maneuvers on the field effectively, and the strategy descriptions, which clearly indicate that Pressfield has done his research and understands why different orders are given and formations adopted.To the other reviewer who decided to review this based on a few quotes online - why bother? Read a book, or at least read a fair distance in, before criticizing. Otherwise you're just fighting a straw man.Overall, a decent book conveying some of the difficulties of military logistics, and good battle descriptions, but it gets long-winded and has no characters worth caring about. Fails as a novel but remains interesting.3/5
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. Excellent descriptions of battles.
    • 5/5
      Every male should read this book. Why? Because the story is about all aspects of war that men in all societies today are taught to understand and emulate.
    • 5/5
      I was enthralled to read about Alexander's exploits from "his own" mouth. Several times, I would promise myself sleep upon finishing the current chapter; only to be left with a cliff hanger so enticing I couldn't help but to read on into the night.

      The author did a great job of placing us in ancient times and distant lands. This might have been the best historical fiction I have ever read and I cannot wait to read more from Steven PRessfielfd. This was a truly great book!
    • 3/5
      Alexander himself narrates this retelling of his life as conqueror. I enjoyed it (though I caught myself skimming ahead any time he waxed poetic about those titular "virtues"), but I don't think I'd recommend it to anyone who isn't already interested in this historical period. This isn't your average light, plotty historical fiction read - it's more manifesto than military adventure.