The story is framed by Grandfather Jason's narration. His grandson asks who he thinks is the noblest of the Greeks. "Alcibiades," Grandfather answers immediately. Grandson asks who he thinks is his 'most unforgettable character'. "Polemides, the son of Nicias...the man who assassinated Alcibiades," Grandfather replies. Thus begins Grandfather's narration, which is italicized. It alternates with Polemides's narration, which is set in a regular serif typeface. Polemides, erstwhile captain of marines, is in prison awaiting execution: not for the murder of Alcibiades, but for treason and the trumped-up charge of a boatswain's murder. Polemides tells both his own life's story and that of Alcibiades, commander of the Athenian fleet. The novel tells of the "thrice times nine year" Peloponnesian War; the rise of both men; Alcibiades's defections; defeat at Notium; final fall from grace; exile to Phrygia; and assassination. Polemides states, "...Necessity would bring him low...but it was my hand which drove the fatal blade." Later, a mercenary soldier, Telamon, gives Grandfather Jason a gold coin from Phrygia. The soldier calls it an 'alcibiadic'. The coin is good throughout all Asia. So we see people still remember and admire Alcibiades.The sections explaining the different armies, the navy, and tactics were very well done. Because of Pressfield's vivid descriptions, I felt as though I had put on my kit and was an ordinary soldier or sailor back in the ancient world. Pressfield has a special knack for writing about military life and both land and sea battles. I liked Pressfield's contrasting the soldier's life with the farmer's life. I liked his description of Spartan society. There was a torture scene, as well as description of the manner of Polemides's execution, both of which I felt were too gruesome. Alcibiades is commander of the Athenian fleet and an excellent tactician. He's also arrogant, lustful, ambitious, vain, impatient, and exploitative. He's charismatic but can also be demagogic or Machiavellian. Some of his ideas expressed in various letters could be straight out of The Prince. The women are colorless except Eunice, the only one showing any gumption and personality. Polemides functions mainly as a foil to Alcibiades. I learned something more of the Peloponnesian War, which I studied long ago in school and only remembered vaguely. Alcibiades was only a dusty name until I read this novel. Highly recommended for all who like ancient world military fiction!
This book is definitely not for the faint of heart. Also as a warning it is mostly told from a soldier's point of view and has all of the attendant language that you would expect from a soldier. But I really enjoyed this book. It is the story of the Peloponnesian War, the 27 year war between Sparta and Athens and specifically about the Athenian General Alcibiades. The story is told by one Jason who was a student of Socrates and a leading figure in Athenian political life who was also somewhat of a lawyer and had defended Socrates, unsuccessfully as we know, and has now decided to defend a man who was a friend to Alcidiades and was the man who actually killed him (in the novel at least). Just a note I listened to an author interview and Polymides was a fictional creation but really believable in the story. I have no idea if Jason was a real character or not but Alcibiades was both real and a character. The story progresses as Polymedes tells of his association to Alcibiades through pretty much the entire war. The story is amazing in how many times Alcibiades was crushed down by his enemies, only to reemerge and come to power again in a different quarter and allied with people who had been his enemies. This book was also the story of the death of democracy at the hands of petty individuals who were able to sway public opinion and destroy each other. At one point in the war, six of the best Athenian generals are executed for not saving crews of sunken ships during a powerful storm. They were executed by political rivals who were able to incite the crouds against the generals who had up until that point been heroes. The book also showed how fickle the fortunes of public opinion can be. I don’t know if the themes in the book are more written because of issues that are present today or if these issues are more universal and have just been repeated over and over again throughout history. But I suspect that it is the latter and that we as a human race have not advanced as far as we think. The truly frightening thing is that we have that more powerful weapons than the ancient Greeks and that we are capable of much more destruction than they ever were but have not really progressed beyond much of the same political pettiness that plagued the ancient Greeks.
Bought this at a library cast-off yard sale, thinking it would fit into my genre of historical fiction which I can both enjoy and learn something from - however unlike most of that type of novel I've read, I knew almost nothing about the subject (the Peloponnesian Wars), having only covered it briefly in high-school history as another example of Sparta vs. Athens.And at first, I thought I'd made a big mistake - it was a very slow start, with cumbersome language, difficult names of both people and places, and just no familiarity on my part with which to mentally anchor the story. By the time I'd finished, I couldn't put it down - a VERY good story on a remarkable (true!) character - Alcibiades - whom I confess I'd never heard of prior to this book. And while I've picked up a little bit of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae, the use of a trireme, etc, this novel paints a picture of ancient warfare that both humanizes it, and modernizes it, in a way that allows you to identify and understand tactics and warfare from the perspective of an individual warrior. You perceive war as a clash of people, regardless of the technological differences.And in an indicator of the old adage that truth is stranger than fiction, the drama associated with Alcibiades' hubris, his alteringg allegiances, and the responses of the people drawn to his charismatic leadership is almost unbelieveable. But its truth, and the way in which Pressfield uses the narrator (his assassin Polemides) to convey the attitudes of the Greeks (both Spartan and Athenian) and Persians, Thracians, etc, throughout, go beyond helping you understand why such changing tides were possible, but also paint a broader portrait of Greece at large.As a result, it did just what I'd hoped - provided a much-appreciated education, and a great read!
—Troy
Steven Pressfield is the master of Ancient Greek historical fiction. In his second book about the Greeks, he offers an account of the enigmatic Alkibiades (aka Alcibiades).Told through the eyes of his assassin and assassin's lawyer, Pressfield captures, in my view, what Alkibiades must have been like. Alkibiades was known to have been the most handsome, charismatic, daring, and popular Athenian leader after the death of his relative Perikles. Despite his obvious patriotism and love for his city, he somehow manages to betray Athens to the Spartans, win his way back into their good graces, only to betray them a second time.The story reveals the dangers of a "true" democracy, where the many can be persauded to undertake almost any plan that strikes their fancy at the moment, only to reverse their decision at the slightest provocation. The love-hate relationship that Athens has with its best citizens reminds us how dangerous and fickle mob rule can be.Although not quite as fulfilling as Gates of Fire (which is an unambiguous tale of heroism and self-sacrifice), Tides of War is a great read.
—Richard
I may pick up this book again sometime. It doesn't seem bad. Rather, it's just very daunting. This book was one of the many we could pick off of a reading list for my college history class. The professor justified assigning this fictional story because it has a great amount of detail invested in what Greek culture, military and the experience of her people was like with incredible accuracy. And she's right. It's excellent in that regard.What this book isn't for is the layman. It's incredible amount of detail does not explain itself. Nor does he provide enough information in his map, timeline and painfully brief layout of Greek history. The narrators of the story behave as people would. They do not stop to explain that Attica is the region controlled by Athens, or that Laconia is controlled by Sparta. They discuss it as any Greek might - already knowing these things. For a reader just coming in, with basic knowledge (or no knowledge of Greek history. They'll be lost in the sea of names from the get-go. Although there's plenty to just infer, I really hate thumbing back and forth from the glossary, to the maps, to the story to get my names and areas straight. It kills the flow of the read, although it is incredibly informative.Once past the almost-confusing introduction, however, things seem to speed up and one can follow fairly easily. The book has good language from what I've seen, and seems well written, but I honestly cannot afford to take the time it deserves to go through this book. I might come back to this one, but for now, it'll take its place on the back of my book list.
—Briana Patterson
