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Last edited by Tiger-222
February 7, 2023 | History

Steven Pressfield

1943 -

I was born in Port of Spain, Trinidad, in 1943 to a Navy father and mother.

I graduated from Duke University in 1965.

In January of 1966, when I was on the bus leaving Parris Island as a freshly-minted Marine, I looked back and thought there was at least one good thing about this departure. "No matter what happens to me for the rest of my life, no one can ever send me back to this freakin' place again."

Forty years later, to my surprise and gratification, I am far more closely bound to the young men of the Marine Corps and to all other dirt-eating, ground-pounding outfits than I could ever have imagined.

GATES OF FIRE is one reason. Dog-eared paperbacks of this tale of the ancient Spartans have circulated throughout platoons of U.S. troops in Iraq and Afghanistan since the first days of the invasions. E-mails come in by hundreds. GATES OF FIRE is on the Commandant of the Marine Corps' Reading list. It is taught at West Point and Annapolis and at the Marine Corps Basic School at Quantico. TIDES OF WAR is on the curriculum of the Naval War College.

From 2nd Battalion/6th Marines, which calls itself "the Spartans," to ODA 316 of the Special Forces, whose forearms are tattooed with the lambda of Lakedaemon, today's young warriors find a bond to their ancient precursors in the historical narratives of these novels.

My struggles to earn a living as a writer (it took seventeen years to get the first paycheck) are detailed in my 2002 book, THE WAR OF ART.

I have worked as an advertising copywriter, schoolteacher, tractor-trailer driver, bartender, oilfield roustabout and attendant in a mental hospital. I have picked fruit in Washington state and written screenplays in Tinseltown.

With the publication of THE LEGEND OF BAGGER VANCE in 1995, I became a writer of books once and for all.

My writing philosophy is, not surprisingly, a kind of warrior code — internal rather than external — in which the enemy is identified as those forms of self-sabotage that I have labeled "Resistance" with a capital R (in THE WAR OF ART) and the technique for combatting these foes can be described as "turning pro."

I believe in previous lives.

I believe in the Muse.

I believe that books and music exist before they are written and that they are propelled into material being by their own imperative to be born, via the offices of those willing servants of discipline, imagination and inspiration, whom we call artists. My conception of the artist's role is a combination of reverence for the unknowable nature of "where it all comes from" and a no-nonsense, blue-collar demystification of the process by which this mystery is approached. In other words, a paradox.

There's a recurring character in my books named Telamon, a mercenary of ancient days. Telamon doesn't say much. He rarely gets hurt or wounded. And he never seems to age. His view of the profession of arms is a lot like my conception of art and the artist:

"It is one thing to study war, and another to live the warrior's life."

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  • Cover of: Gates of fire: an epic novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

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  • Cover of: The Legend of Bagger Vance: A Novel of Golf and the Game of Life

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  • Cover of: Killing Rommel: A Novel
    First published in 2008 8 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition isbn_9781597227810

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  • Cover of: Afghan Campaign
    First published in 1998 7 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: Killing Rommel
    First published in 1998 7 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition killingrommel0000pres_q0x3

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  • Cover of: Tides of war: a novel of Alcibiades and the Peloponnesian War

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  • Cover of: Govt Cheese: a memoir

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  • Cover of: Last of the Amazons
    First published in 2002 5 editions in 1 language — 2 previewable Cover of edition lastofamazons0000pres

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  • Cover of: The War of Art: Winning the Inner Creative Battle

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  • Cover of: The Afghan campaign
    First published in 2006 5 editions in 1 language — 1 previewable

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  • Cover of: The virtues of war: a novel of Alexander the Great

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  • Cover of: Afghan Campaign
    First published in 2008 3 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: Do the Work
    First published in 2011 3 editions

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  • Cover of: 36 Righteous Men: A Novel

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  • Cover of: Tides of War: A Spectacular and Action-Packed Historical Novel, That Breathes Life into the Events and Characters of Millennia Ago

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  • Cover of: Afghan Campaign
    First published in 2007 2 editions in 1 language

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  • Cover of: Gates of fire: an epic novel of the Battle of Thermopylae

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  • Cover of: Last of the Amazons: A Superbly Evocative, Exciting and Moving Historical Tale That Brings the Past Expertly to Life

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  • Cover of: Alexander: The Virtues of War

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  • Cover of: Left of Bang: How the Marine Corps' Combat Hunter Program Can Save Your Life

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History

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February 7, 2023 Edited by Tiger-222 Edited without comment.
February 7, 2023 Edited by Tiger-222 Edited without comment.
February 7, 2023 Edited by Tiger-222 Added new photo
September 30, 2020 Edited by MARC Bot add ISNI
April 1, 2008 Created by an anonymous user initial import