A short but very good book. This book explains the many attributes it takes to be a good warrior. Some people may scoff at these but they are attributes we have needed in the past and will undoutably be needed in the future. Pressfield mainly focuses on the Spartans and uses anecdotes to explain his lessons although other cultures and people are refrenced.People can learn a lot from this book.

Nahhh "dude"

Pressfield finesses the warrior ethos into personal development by turning the battles into battles with yourself. Kind of a self-help fight club.

Short and to the point. I read this book in a couple of hours. But in that time Steven Pressfield manages to encompass more than a decade of my life. As someone who served in the military this was a wonderful exposition on why so many choose to serve. But this book is not meant only for members, past and present, of the military. It is for everyone who has ever fought a battle, against any obstacle. Whether you fight your weight, your boss, your spouse, your own creativity. This is a book you wa...

What is a warrior and what are the qualities that we admire in them? Pressfield presents a poignant discussion through historical examples of the warrior ethos. In the west we have lost the sense of honor; we are obsessed with the superficial and abandoned the importance of the character in individuals. How can we learn from our past and apply the lessons of warrior cultures and their stories? How can we embrace the warrior archetype within ourselves when there are no great battles to be fought?...

My first read of 2021 and a good way to start the year. I enjoyed it. Is a very quick read.

This is a slender, concise book on warriors by Steven Pressfield, a man who has spent much of his life studying and writing about their ways. It is slanted toward the West and the Spartans in particular, whom are a brutal, dysfunctional bunch, albeit highly effective. This was a quick, enlightening read, but I wish Pressfield would have widened his lens to include the Samurai, Kshatriya, and the East-- cultures that embrace the spiritual path alongside a martial one. But, as his novels attest, h...

Why this book:I lead a volunteer reading group for young men early in the pipeline to become SEALs or SWCCs (Special Warfare Combatant-craft Crewmen). We pick relatively short books related to the profession they are entering, and we meet and discuss them. I had read several of Steven Pressfield's books, and followed a couple of his blogs and assumed correctly that this short book would fit well in the "curriculum" I am creating for these young men.Summary in 3 Sentences:Pressfield uses the exte...

Full review and highlights at https://books.max-nova.com/warrior-ethosIn "The Warrior Ethos," Pressfield plucks a few gems from a variety of ancient sources but adds little new. The book seems to be the result of calculated marketing acumen - "How can I recycle ancient wisdom to create a tiny book that will sell well with the military crowd?" Heavy on Alexander and the Spartans, Pressfield tosses in a few sayings of the Pashtun warriors of Afghanistan to stay relevant for his target audience. Fo...

A great book for combat veterans to read and to remember. The ethos of the tribe is impossible to remove once you have it - Pressfield clearly distills the essence of the warrior mentality. There is no Rambo.

I only picked up this book a year ago, because my coworker, a Major in the U.S. Marine Corps and an instructor for NROTC, told me that this book has a lot of practical insight not just on the archetype of a warrior, but on life in general. I figured "why not", and the fact that it was less than a 100 pages was attractive. This is my second time reading this book as I'm going through some major decisions in my life right now.Not only does this book look into the mindset and drive of a warrior, bu...

Sure parts of the values and ideas presented in this book can be useful if applied wisely. But at the same time what Pressfield presents as the “Warrior Ethos” is the thinking that is responsible for vast amount of human suffering. To uncritically celebrate it as done by Pressfield is just totally vulgar.

I think this book would be more aptly named "The Spartan Ethos," because I think it is a weak attempt at defining the warrior ethos. The last paragraph is the only writing in the book that (in my opinion) accurately describes what it means to be a warrior. Even still, I think the author misses a CRITICAL ingredient of what it means to be a warrior (outlined at the end of my monologue). I think the rest of the book describes what it means to be masculine. There is a huge difference between the tw...

Background: My USMC Sergeant recommended this book since I was due to be promoted soon. He said this book would put me into the proper mindset and that it was an easy read - I agree with the latter, it's almost more of a pamphlet than a book. I would assume most Marines who go through MCMAP would be familiar with the question, "what is the warrior ethos?" This question usually trips people up because it really is sort of a vague notion and hard to define - I guess that is this book's greatest st...

My review of this book will differ markedly from most. To start, I am not a fan of the Spartans, in fact, I find it inconceivable that an ethical individual count find a single redeeming feature in their society. Sparta was a militarily oriented state bereft of art, science, culture, and, for that matter, commerce. Their society survived only by a reliance on a fascist form of government that ruthlessly exploited and terrorised a subject population and its own citizens. The most indicative examp...

Every one of us lives by an ethos, whether or not we understand what that word means. Steven Pressfield is an authority on the warrior ethos as displayed in his books; Gates of Fire, Tides of War, and The Virtues of War. He understands the elements of war, internal and external. He also understands that we as societies and individuals adhere to an ethos.In his book The Warrior Ethos, Pressfield gives a terse and rich lesson on the warrior ethos. He provides numerous examples from the lives and j...

It was a brief book. It started out good and strong saying that courage/bravery could be applied to all things in life, but the book quickly shifted to praising the never ending wars for oil. Mr Pressfield glorifies those who fight in these conflicts, elevating them to strange noble tiers. It was an ok book, but thats all im going to say.

Every once in a while, a book comes along and kicks you in the pants at exactly the time you need it. I think this book caught me at exactly the right time.In this short book, Pressfield examines famous warriors and warrior cultures, such as Alexander the Great and the Spartans. He pulls out specific passages of historical texts to make his points (which certainly aren't subtle - one short passage is entitled "The Lord of Discipline," another is called "The Purity of the Weapon").I suspect most

The most famous Spartan mother story is also the shortest"A Spartan mother handed her son his shield as he prepared to march off to battle. She said, "Come back with this or on it."That's pretty bad-ass. This book is motivating, inspiring, and thought provoking. You have to pick it up.