The Virtues of War

A Novel of Alexander the Great

By: Steven Pressfield

Narrated by: John Lee

Length: 12 hrs and 4 mins

Publisher's summary

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....

©2004 Steven Pressfield (P)2004 Books on Tape, Inc.

30 times

the best book I've ever read, reread it 30 times now.

read it in 2009

and now have listened to it 30 times in 5 years
,maybe more !

The best audible I’ve ever listened to

This is perhaps the best leadership book I’ve ever read. Alexander’s story in pressfield prose is magnificent. The narrator is perfect.

Amazing story

I recommend this novel to any Alexander the Great enthusiast. It really encapsulates his life, the good, the bad, the ugly, and the great.

Ready for DOOM III

A factual recounting of the events of Alexander?s brief and brutal life told in the first person to an imagined page. The title is somewhat misleading in that when a book is called a ?novel? we generally expect a little character development, possibly a bit of dialog. What we get is a fictitious diary. The only character that emerges is that of Alexander, a charismatic, skilled and powerfully obsessed young man. If there was any virtue in war here, I failed to discover it ? unless it had something to do with self-realization through rape, pillage and the slaughter of all authority but one?s own. Even so, I recommend this book to anyone curious about what once lay in the cradle of western civilization. The narration is excellent, and despite the fact this is 12+ hours of Alexander justifying his life, the tale is seldom dull.

Worthy Successor to Gates of Fire

Who better than the author of Gates of Fire to do justice to the enigmatic character of Alexander? For those who are fascinated and horrified at the same time by detailed and accurate descriptions of ancient warfare, this is your book. Lacking all the formulaic elements that can destroy otherwise good historical fiction (love interests and/or comic relief from sidekicks that did not really exist, etc.) this is a bare bones descriptions of a great man at war with himself.

narrator sounds like mufassa.

great book overall, great narrator great story. interesting prospective and well put together. nice description on battles and tactics

A Rollercoaster

Very enjoyable. Narrator was great. Way more emotional than anticipated. You feel what alexander felt. Lessons abound.

An absolute gift to humanity

I’ve listened to this treasure many times; So beautifully written and narrated.

The intimate descriptions and narrator’s cadence makes you feel like you’re participating in all the fun, all the while being subtly educated about such an incredible time of existence. I cannot recommend it enough, you won’t be disappointed.

Greatest book by Steven Pressfield I have read to date!

This book kept me enthralled from the onset. In my opinion it is one of the greatest books on leadership ever written. I highly recommend this book to anyone. John Lee does a superb job on the narration for Audible.

it was pretty good

the story was kind of bland with moments of redemption which overall made the book worth reading.