Praise for KILLING ROMMEL
The Hugh Hewitt Show - Hugh begins a two-hour conversation with legendary novelist Steven Pressfield on his new World War II epic, Killing Rommel.Praise for the prior novels of Steven Pressfield
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"Pressfield has produced a splendid tour de force, one that brings to life the heroism, sacrifice, tragedy, frustration, fear and -- yes -- thrill of war. It should not be missed by military-history buffs or by anyone who wants a moving reminder of the bravery, ingenuity and sacrifice that ordinary men are capable of when given a cause they believe in."-Washington Post
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"If you're ancient enough to have watched The Rat Patrol, the TV series from the 60s (guilty as charged), you know about the Long Range Desert Group. These brave lads were charged with getting behind enemy lines in North Africa to track down Germany's Field Rommel. Despite the titillating title, killing the elusive Desert Fox wasn't so easy. Steven Pressfield's well-written fiction memoir (by a literate British lieutenant named Chapman) is surprisingly comtemplative, more a coming-of-age tale than a thriller. But gearheads will love every vehicular snafu, and the one pulse-racing battle sequence – when Chapman's patrol is shot up during a surprise encounter with the enemy – is worth the wait."-USA Today
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A rookie English soldier in World War II joins the elite Long Range Desert Group in North Africa for a clandestine operation to try to assassinate the legendary leader of Axis forces, Erwin “The Desert Fox” Rommel. Movie Pitch: Band of Brothers meets Lawrence of Arabia. Lowdown: the Brutality of modern warfare and the bravery of troops on both sides of the conflict seep through every page. KILLING ROMMEL is both a captivating history lesson and a rousing guts-‘n’-glory saga. GRADE: A--Entertainment Weekly
This is a first-class war adventure...-Historical Novel Society Editors' Choice
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Author Steven Pressfield has forged a considerable reputation as a historical novelist, focusing on the more ancient civilizations. His 1998 novel, Gates of Fire, about the 300 Spartans who defended Thermopylae against an overwhelming number of Xerxes' troops in 480 B.C., helped inspire a whole new wave of interest in that heroic encounter. Now he turns his sights on the desert war of World War II and the formidable talents of Field Marshal Erwin Rommel, the so-called "Desert Fox."
Told as a written memoir from a young British lieutenant, R. Lawrence Chapman (aka Chap), Killing Rommel chronicles the deadly mission of a commando unit, the Long Range Desert Group, as it tries to outmaneuver Rommel and assassinate him. It's a daring, even reckless endeavor that takes a special group of men.
Pressfield has never been shy about sharing his vast knowledge of ancient weaponry and now, moving to the era of World War II, he hasn't lost a step or a spear. And yet he's smart enough not to allow didactics to get in the way of good drama. While the weapons have changed greatly, the men in the trenches haven't, and few writers handle the intense camaraderie of fighting men better than Pressfield. The desert itself emerges as a character, as in this passage where Chap muses on its timelessness and his relationship to it. "I am an ordinary Englishmen, barely out of my university years. Yet here I sit, in the vastness of the African night, surrounded by mates who could have stepped from Caesar's legions or Alexander's phalanx."
As you ride in the tanks with the men toward the conclusion of the novel, you come to realize that what happens to Rommel doesn't really matter. The German commander is respected on both sides for his gentlemanly behavior toward troops. He refuses to execute POWs or Jews, earning the wrath of Hitler and sealing his own fate. No, it's what happens to the men we've come to know through Pressfield's masterly characterizations that has become so vital.-Bookpage
After five novels about conflict in ancient times (Gates of Fire, etc.), Pressfield effortlessly gives fresh life to wartime romance and the rigors of combat in a superior WWII thriller. Framed as the memoir of a British officer, the book is based on an actual British plot to assassinate the "Desert Fox," German field marshal Erwin Rommel, during late 1942 and early 1943 in North Africa. The author painstakingly sets the stage for later fireworks by charting the prewar career of R. Lawrence "Chap" Chapman, especially his relationship with the brilliant but doomed Zachary Stein, Chap's tutor and mentor at Oxford. Chap also falls in love with sexy Rose McCall, whose brains and brass later get her posted to naval intelligence in Egypt. As a young lieutenant, Chap joins the team assembled to go after Rommel. Pressfield expertly juxtaposes the personal with the historical, with authentic battle descriptions. Crisp writing carries readers through success, failure and a final face-to-face encounter with Rommel that's no less exciting for knowing the outcome.-Publishers Weekly (Starred Review)
Based on real-life events, Pressfield's moving novel concerns the daring British and Commonwealth soldiers who challenged German General Erwin Rommel's desert forces. The story is narrated by R. Lawrence "Chap" Chapman, a minor player in the dramatic African action of World War II. As a very young British officer, barely out of his teens, the Oxford-educated Chapman was assigned to the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG), a glamorous and much sought-after posting in an outfit prizing resourcefulness and improvisation, qualities essential to surviving LRDG's ridiculously dangerous assignments. Rommel's forces in 1942 dominated Northern Africa west of Egypt. The brilliant general had the willing participation of his troops, who were in awe both of his tactics and of his almost knightly approach to warfare. His success in Africa was a major obstacle to the Allied Forces who saw the coastline there as the first step to an invasion of Southern Europe. Even more dangerous, were he to take Egypt from the Brits, he would hand the Arabian oil fields to the fuel-starved Axis armies. To save Egypt, the oil fields and prevent an invasion, the Brits, under future Field Marshal Bernard Montgomery, send the units of the LRDG, including the very green Chapman, on a wild mission to kill Rommel and, with him, the German esprit de guerre. The story Pressfield (The Afghan Campaign, 2007, etc.) tells is so rich in details ... and, given the conceit of a modest man telling the whopping story, it is sometimes slow going. But it's absolutely worth sticking with for the high-definition picture of a low tech (trucks get repaired in the middle of the dunes) but vicious war, and for the breathtaking gallantry of unpretentious young men and General Rommel. There is, as a lagniappe thrown in at the end, one of the best apologies ever written on behalf of novels as a necessary art form. Brilliant, but not for the Tom Clancy set.-Kirkus Review
GATES OF FIRE
"An incredibly gripping, moving, and literate work of art. Rarely does an author manage to recreate a moment in history with such mastery, authority, and psychological insight."THE WAR OF ART-Nelson DeMille
"Gripping and swashbuckling ... a novel that, in addition to plenty of sweep and sting, has a feel of authenticity about it from beginning to end. These pages are written as a kind of heroic saga, drenched in the gore of battle and the dust of Spartan discipline ... The war with Persia provides the occasion for Gates of Fire, but the conflicts with Sparta, caused by the divided loyalties and private animosities, are the true stuff of this novel's drama ... Herodotus, who made Mr. Pressfield's story possible, would have enjoyed this book."-The New York Times Book Review
"Steven Pressfield brings the battle of Thermopylae to brilliant life, and he does for that war what Charles Frazier did for the Civil War in Cold Mountain. When you finish Pressfield's work, you will feel you have fought side by side with the Spartans. This novel is Homeric."-Pat Conroy
"Majestic ... monumental ... an epic."-The New York Daily News
"An epic novel ... the real thing."-The San Francisco Chronicle
"A timeless epic of man and war ... Pressfield has created a new classic deserving of a place beside the very best of the old."-Stephen Coonts
"A triumph!"-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"With a sound grasp of strategy and an ex-infantryman's understanding of comradeship and its grim wit, Steven Pressfield adds colour and a credible cast of soldiers and their wives to the historians' accounts. I couldn't put it down."-Daily Telegraph (London)
"Gates of Fire is that rarity of a novel: it combines a first-rate storyteller with a first-rate story to tell. It is truly epic--its Homeric battle scenes are heartbreaking climaxes of the lifelong preparation for war that Spartans endured, and its heroes are magnificently depicted in their flaws and strivings ... It is a book for everyone, not just military history buffs."-Margaret George
"The terrifying spectacle of classical infantry battle becomes vividly clear in this epic treatment of the Greeks' magnificent last stand against the invading Persians ... rich with historical detail, hot action and crafty storytelling ... Riveting."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"Gates of Fire is a breathtakingly brilliant reconstruction of the most heroic battle of ancient times. There have been many books about Sparta and its warrior code, but none have captured so magnificently the hearts, minds and spirits of the warriors who fought at Thermopylae. This is work of rare genius. Savour it!"-David Gemmell
"Monumental ... [a story] told with extraordinary authority and insight."-Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"A must-read by warriors--past, present and future--for within the pages of this magnificent book are the secrets of developing the critical warrior ethic and what combat leadership, discipline, superior training techniques and the brotherhood of arms are all about."-Col. David Hackworth
"A wonderful novel--brilliantly conceived, beautifully written. Steven Pressfield does that rarest of things, he brings a whole world to life. The climactic battle at Thermopylae is glorious, terrifying, but even more impressive is the humanity the author finds and creates in his epic cast of characters."-Max Byrd
"Pressfield's extraordinary tour de force of historical fiction has somehow imagined the Attic world so completely and with such compelling prose that it is difficult not to suggest that some form of temporal thunderbolt had pitched him back through time to live it himself. Gates of Fire is harrowing, richly detailed, written by a man in command of a prose style at once lyrical and brutally uncompromising. Patton would have carried this book with him through Sicily. Morituri, Mr. Pressfield."-Carsten Stroud
"Pressfield's powerful, historically accurate novel explores Spartan society and the nature of courage without ever losing its narrative momentum."-The New Yorker
"This vivid account [of the battle of Thermopylae] was a surprise best-seller, and it is not difficult to discern why: Pressfield's imaginative and gory rendering of the combat is compelling, and his prose is clear and accessible."-The Sunday Times (London)
"A vital gem … a kick in the ass."THE AFGHAN CAMPAIGN-Esquire
"I’ve never read a self help book that wasn’t fatuous, obvious and unhelpful. Until The War of Art. It’s amazingly cogent and smart on the psychology of creation. If I ever teach a writing course this would be one of the first books I’d assign, along with the letters of Flannery O’Connor."- Jay McInerney
Author of Bright Lights, Big City and Brightness Falls
"Pressfield has crafted an enlightening book about the myriad challenges he faces every day and ways in which he battles the terror of a blank sheet of paper. Though it’s written for writers, I imagine many of you would find it helpful as you struggle to keep your own creative flames shining brightly."- Adweek
"While certainly of great value to frustrated writers struggling with writer’s block, Pressfield’s highly personal philosophy, soundly rooted in his own significant life challenges, has merit for anyone frustrated in fulfilling his or her life purpose."- Library Journal
"Pressfield is a riveting storyteller and his advice might put some spine into you."- Seattle Times
"Yes, The War of Art is hell. But Steven Pressfield is our Clausewitz who shows how you too can battle against The Four Horsemen of The Apologetic: sloth, inertia, rationalization and procrastination. Shakespeare, Rembrandt and Beethoven all are proof of what you can do with talent and General Pressfield."- Frank Deford,
Author and NPR Commentator
"A marvelous help for anybody who has ever encountered the resistance of a blank page, an empty canvas or an unyielding musical scale."-Stan Berenstain,
co-creator of The Berenstain Bears
"The War of Art is a real find in the overcrowded field of self-help books. It stands out with its humor and its wisdom from a man who has faced his own demons and come out swinging. If you just take one or two of the suggestions in this book, you'll be moved to get up, to get going and to try to create goals for your life. I don't just recommend this book for writers, but for anyone who wants to be a little bit better than they were the day before."-Gloria Naylor,
author of Mama Day
and The Women of Brewster Place
"The War of Art is a book about 'making' - for the beginner, the pro, for those of us in service to our craft. Pressfield's wisdom got me through the darkest night of my writing."-Mary Sojourner,
National NPR Commentator,
Novelist, Essayist and Columnist
"No one writes better historical fiction than Steven Pressfield. The Afghan War that was waged by Alexander the Great 2000 years ago is eerily similar to the one that's being fought today. This book should be required reading for anyone who wants to better understand what American and Coalition forces are up against in one of history's most tribal and troubled regions."THE VIRTUES OF WAR-Vince Flynn
" ... Steven Pressfield is the finest military writer alive, bar none. I cannot recommend him too highly."-Stephen Coonts
" ... gripping ... a vivid, compelling tale ... superbly constructed, briskly paced, and dramatically engaging. [The] possibility of retaining one's inner innocence while surrounded by horror may explain the enormous popularity of Pressfield's work among the rank-and-file soldiers of the American military. Matthias [the infantryman-protagonist of The Afghan Campaign] holds out to the reader the central promise that every soldier wants to believe: not only will you survive and grow in the crucible of the battlefield, you will emerge with your peacetime decency and goodness intact."-Claremont Review of Books
"Masterful and thrilling--an insightful and timely look back at a region and its warring tribes ... with clear connections to the present day."-W.E.B. Griffin
"Pressfield's portrayal of ancient Afghanistan is fascinating, his details are convincing, and the book's timing is apt. This is a novel about the timelessness of guerrilla war, and a mountainous nation that has been defying attempts to tame it for at least 2,300 years. [Pressfield's] novels extend and expand a personal, vividly imagined, and singular world: that of the Greek warrior. His era is simpler, more brutal, and more heroic than ours, and so carefully researched that the reader is never sure where fact leaves off and fiction begins."-Seattle Times
"Pressfield has done it again. The Afghan Campaign is yet another gripping historical novel ... Although set in ancient times, Pressfield's narration of the Macedonians' efforts reveals remarkable parallels to later efforts by the Romans, British, Soviets, and Americans ... an intense, fun, and thought-provoking read."-T.X. Hammes,
Marine Corps Gazette
Simply superb. [Pressfield's] best book to date, even eclipsing his best-selling Gates of Fire.TIDES OF WAR
Its expert pace, its vivid detail, its bone-crunching action, and its occasional piercing insights of sad eloquence make it an absolutely gripping read.-The Seattle Times
Fascinating ... a gut-clenching battle story [brought] to bloody, dusty, exhausting and frightening life. The great battles are described in such painstaking detail that the reader can almost feel the fear of man and horse, the grit of dust and the exhausted relief when the outcome is clear. As Alexander charges across the pages of new books, TV screens and movie theaters, his incarnation in The Virtues of War may be among the most memorable.-USA Today
Splendid … Acclaimed historical novelist Pressfield turns his attention to the ever-fascinating life of Alexander the Great. The rapidly paced first-person narrative is distinguished by Alexander's own matter-of-fact voice. The mighty warrior and king candidly relates his amazing exploits in spellbinding detail. The inevitable gore and glory of the many battle scenes ring especially true as one of the greatest military tacticians in recorded history chronicles both his martial successes and failures. Being treated to a firsthand look inside Alexander's mind, the reader is quickly made aware of the multiple contradictions, ambitions, and passions that contributed to the complex sum of the entire man. This splendid fictional biography is calculated to appeal to antiquarians, Grecophiles, and fans of a darn good read.-Booklist
… sure to be a hit … Pressfield's exceptionally vivid prose evokes the period, and his play-by-play descriptions of the weapons, formations, strategies, and individual bouts should please the most meticulous military history buff.- Library Journal
Fair warning to all readers of The Virtues of War: This book is so powerfully written and so epic in scope that those who turn the first page will quickly find they are eyewitnesses to history, as it happens.-Leatherneck, "The Magazine of the Marines"
Esteemed historical novelist Steven Pressfield crawls inside the brave heart of Alexander the Great in this chronicle of the king's bloody and extraordinary accomplishments and boundless ambition … Alexander's voice swoops from high-minded rhetoric to earthy vernacular as he regales [his listener] with bloody battle scenes and stories of horror and triumph. For devotees of Alexandrite military history-and there are many-this is a sympathetic … portrait of a man who knew no doubt: "Fame imperishable and glory that will never die: that is what we march for!"-Publishers Weekly
Pressfield writes the narrative of Virtues of War in the first person through Alexander himself. The effect is that you are not just reading the diary of Alexander but are actually inside his mind, watching him think and act.
Pressfield takes his readers beyond Alexander's brilliance and shows them his flaws.
Virtues of War works as military fiction. Its account of Alexander--part real, part imagined by the author--is, in effect, an imaginative tutorial for the serving officer in battlefield leadership. Marines should look to Virtues of War as they would The Red Badge of Courage or Fields of Fire--a good story of valor, fear, camaraderie, and courage-Marine Corps Gazette
An exhilarating chronicle … elevated into a study of leadership. A lesser writer would have turned the subject matter into a one-dimensional adventure story filled with the hack and slash of pulp literature. Instead, Pressfield has crafted an engaging character study that is relevant to us today. A Hollywood treatment of Alexander the Great will be in theatres soon but it is unlikely that it will meet the standard that Pressfield has set.-Enter Stage Right
I have hated historical novels. Loathed them.
I have since changed my mind
Virtues of War is at least as good as Gates of Fire. Indeed, it may even be better. I won't know until I've re-read it (which I rather intend to do, just as soon as I get done writing this review).
… a work of art; a beautifully written, delicately and expertly crafted, perfectly structured testament to the ability of an author to imagine a subject, and to share it with his readers. . Suffice it to say, for the first time in something like four years, I have read a novel (other than Gates of Fire) that actually moved me in the reading. The best novels stay with you in your dreams and in your waking moments when you finish. I have dreamed of Virtues every night since I picked it up.-T. Crown's Musings
A page-turner … Top notch historical fiction.
If you want to understand [Maneuver Warfare] … read the standards: Bill Lind's Maneuver Warfare Handbook, John Boyd's Patterns of Conflict, Marine Corps Doctrine Pub 1, Warfighting, and then pick up The Virtues of War to experience how it was practiced by one of its earliest and greatest masters.-Defense and the National Interest
"On every page are color, splendor, sorrow, the unforgiving details of battle, daily life, and the fighter's lot ... Pressfield produces an even greater spectacle--and, in its honest, incremental way, an even greater heart-tugger--than in his acclaimed tale of the battle of Thermopylae, Gates of Fire. Unabashedly brilliant, epic, intelligent, and moving."LAST OF THE AMAZONS-Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
"The very qualities that distinguish Ridley Scott's Gladiator are here in greater concentration ... It is nigh unbeatable."-amazon.com.uk
"Every inch the equal of its predecessor."-Publishing News
"Pressfield serves up not just hair-raising battle scenes ... but many moments of valor and cowardice, lust and bawdy humor ... even more impressive, he delivers a nuanced portrait of ancient Athens."-Esquire
"Astounding, historically accurate tale ... Pressfield is a master storyteller, especially adept in his graphic and embracing descriptions of the land and naval battles, political intrigues and colorful personalities, which come together in an intense and credible portrait of war-torn Greece."-Publishers Weekly (starred review)
"[Pressfield] continues to excel in depth of research, humanization of antiquity, and power of description."-The Los Angeles Times
"Pressfield's attention to historical detail is exquisite ... this novel will remain with the reader long after the final chapter is finished."-Library Journal
"While Pressfield excels at portraying battles and naval contests, the whole pivotal era leaps to life under his skilled and exciting pen."-Booknews
"It's a painful tale to read, but that very pain is testimony to Pressfield's ability to make us feel and believe in his re-creation of the Greek world. Like all great historical fiction, he does not alter the facts, but merely illuminates them with enlightened speculation. Pressfield ends his story with a reminder that his story is fiction, not history. It's a necessary reminder. After living in his world for 400 pages, it's difficult to believe it's not the real thing."-The Herald-Sun (North Carolina)
"Pressfield has an impressive grasp of military history and an even more impressive ability to convey his passion in print. His battlefield scenes rank with the most convincing ever written -- you can almost feel the slash of sword on skin and sense the shattering mix of panic, bravery, blood lust and despair."-USA Today
"When I read the incredible Gates of Fire, I thought that I would never see another book of such calibre. I was wrong. Steven Pressfield has done it again ... A treasure and a joy to behold."-Westminster (England) Independent
To combine erudition, fluency, and storytelling is an impossible hat trick. Hollywood wisdom has it that nothing with a quill pen in it ever made a nickel, as the intrusion of the arcane or archaic shocks us from the story. But Mr. Pressfield gives us Thermopylae, Alcibiades, and, now, the Amazons as compellingly as Patrick O'Brian gives us the Royal Navy. The high merit of his scholarship is eclipsed, indeed, obliterated, by the merit of his acts of the imagination."THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE-David Mamet
" ... the best book of the summer, fascinating in its detail -- a Pressfield trademark -- precise in its logic, well-paced, sad, exciting, and, another Pressfield trademark, gory. FOUR STARS."-Detroit Free Press
"Reading [Last of the Amazons] you'll think more of what women you'd cast (Courtney Love is a frightening possibility) in the movie version than of dusting off your college copy of The Iliad to see how it stacks up. Still, the vision of angry, sun-bronzed women wielding battle axes is a scene that will find resonance in many an East End share house."-New York Magazine Top Ten Summer Reads
"Homer would be proud of this guy. Beyond the best battle scenes I've ever read--brutal, bloody, and thoroughly gripping--Pressfield has an amazing grasp of the savage mind, and the precarious nature of civilization."-Diana Gabaldon,
author of The Fiery Cross
" ... a sweeping epic narrative, vividly related in a number of invented voices, including those of the brave Athenian soldier Damon and the captured Amazon Selene, with whom he falls in love. The author has had less historical supporting material to draw upon for Last of the Amazons than for either of his previous novels, but he has used this opportunity to create a magnificent and convincing world ... sure to join [Gates of Fire and Tides of War] ... at the top of the best-seller lists."-John Wilson,
Waterstone's Belfast
"Pressfield's splendid tale of valor, honor, and comradeship memorializes those women whose lives and deeds have faded into the mists of legend. Highly recommended."-Library Journal (starred review)
"It's a queer do when a historical novel depicts alien 'otherness' umpteen times better than the most contemporary 'fantasy,' in which the protagonists act and talk like 1990s American post-graduates in fancy dress. Not so with Pressfield's Amazons. Set in the 13th century BC, it is a 'various viewpoint' narrative treatment of the legendary race of female warriors who Plutarch describes as descending on Greece in fury after their queen abandoned the loins of Lesbos in favour of a mere man: Theseus, king of Athens and minotaur disposal specialist.
If books were meat, this one would be fresh venison -- strong, sinewy, and richly-flavoured, redolent of tradition and leaving you well aware you've eaten ... Pressfield writes with a quality and style akin to classical legend, not least in his Homeric, muscular prose ... Amazons is the past depicted so dark and deep that the ceaseless fighting and atrocities shock as they should in novels like this -- but rarely do. I've also not read such convincing accounts of classical warfare in years. Moreover, what could easily have been a matriarchy vs patriarchy feminist tirade in lesser hands, is here a powerful elegy to a world that wasn't to be, as well as a profound dialogue between civilisation and 'savagery.' Defeated before Athens, the Amazon horse tribes file away in column, out of history and into legend, leaving womankind ever after mere 'shells of what God intended' and modernity in charge. Where modernity equals, in Pressfield's, opinion: 'anonymity, mass culture, commercialism, shamelessness, indulgence of sensual desires and worship of money.' A joy to read. FOUR STARS.-SFX Magazine (U.K.)
"June also has one of those [trade paperbacks] that I cannot resist mentioning ... it is Steven Pressfield's Last of the Amazons. Remember when his Gates of Fire arrived from nowhere? This is his third and it is quite splendid -- a "beach read" if ever there was one: love and war in ancient Greece on a grand scale, undoubtedly destined for sales figures to match."-Sarah Broadhurst,
The Bookseller (London)
"Amid the carnage, gore and violence, Pressfield presents a love story so grand it pits nations against one another. Pressfield's javelin is his pen and he wields it well in this gruesome tale of ancient blood lust in an age when there is no word for mercy."-Publisher's Weekly
"Readers of the ancients know well indeed that what we call 'radical feminism' was a thing very much alive in the fifth century B.C. and before ... Steven Pressfield, who already has brought antiquity to brilliant new life in Gates of Fire and Tides of War, now goes even farther back in time to unearth the grand, semi-mythological tale of the ferocious attack of the Amazons on Athens and on its legendary king, Theseus. And what a job he does ... the battles are as gripping, realistic, vivid, and detailed as ever; the extremities that lives are driven to are just as unflinchingly portrayed as in the earlier books; and the complex panorama of cultures, alliances, betrayals, calamities, and despair is as perfectly realized as before. But then there's the rest of it, beginning with the gradual revelation of who, where, and what the Amazons actually are, what they're really like, how they live (and love), train, learn to fight, become educated, defend their realm. And how they react when Theseus and his men arrive to introduce alien (read: "male," "western," "rational") ideas and to--most threatening to the Amazons of all--begin falling in love. It's bad that Theseus should fall in passionate love with queen and leader Antiope; worse that she should do the same with him; and the calamitous worst that she should then go back to Athens with him. Here is the beginning of the end for the Amazons, who then see no recourse but war on Athens, which, even in victory, will do irreparable harm to their suddenly dying nation. With a broken, supplicant Theseus at her knees, Eleuthera says it all: " ... We are part of you. In exterminating us, you have slain that which was freest and most noble in yourselves."
Ah, woman! Ah, man! If only we could undo history, and be one again!"-Malcolm Reiner,
Kirkus Reviews (lead review)
"Writing historical fiction that transports you to another time and place is no easy feat, but in Last of the Amazons, Steven Pressfield does just that. He makes the distant past seem real and immediate. This is historical fiction elevated to the status of myth."-Daniel Silva,
author of The English Assassin
"The Legend of Bagger Vance is such an entertaining book on the surface you hardly realize you are being taught some of life's greatest truths. Pressfield has seamlessly brought together that rare combination of fun and enlightenment in a novel that seems destined to take its place alongside some of the great works in golf literature."-Links Magazine
"The Legend of Bagger Vance is quite simply the best golf novel I have ever read, but it is so much more than that. We all know that the true game is played against one's inner self. Steven Pressfield has captured the essence of that battle better than any of his predecessors. I was utterly riveted by this work of art, and literally covered with goose bumps for many hours until I had finished it at a single sitting."-Ben Wright,
author of
Good Bounces and Bad Lies
and The Spirit of Golf
"Truly a delight. Even now when I play in professional tournaments I think of the positive effect Bagger Vance had on everyone associated with him. He will be with me for many years to come."-Patty Sheehan,
Solheim Cup captain and
member of the LPGA Hall of Fame
"Pure magic! I read it straight through in one sitting. It should be required reading for anyone who loves the game and has a sense of its history and mystery."-Deane Beman,
former Commissioner of the PGA Tour
"The Field of Dreams of golf ... the only golf novel ever written that earns 'couldn't put it down' accolades. This is a book that will remain with readers for a while, and will certainly emerge every time they step on a golf course."-Book Page
"Memorable ... a page-turner ... golf played a foot from Alice's looking glass, with mystical realms poised to engulf the reader at every turn ... Bagger Vance is a success, climbing to an uplifting conclusion on a well-constructed scaffold of suspense."-Sports Illustrated
"Good stuff ... a philosophical fantasy imagined on a golf course, heavy with fog, storm, fireworks and howling winds of supernatural forces."-The New York Times Book Review
"Golf and mysticism ... a dazzler and a thought-provoker."-The Los Angeles Times
