I am a confessed Steven Pressfield fanboy. I am working my way through his catalog. He has re-kindled my love of history. I also love his non-(historical) fiction works. I have to read "Do The Work" and his newest "Turning Pro."
"The Warrior Ethos" hits all of Pressfield's historical landmarks. Spartans, Macedonians, Romans, Pashtun, United States Marines, Leonidas, Alexander, Rommel. He uses these as his reference points - his guide stars.
I can see that I am going to use this book in the future when I need a good dose of Pressfield/History/Guidance/Motivation. It is a short volume packed full of goodness.
He explains where the ethos came from and how we apply it today. It evolved as we first organized into tribes as a way to counter FEAR and a counter to self-preservation. It uses honor instead of shame. It uses love instead of fear. The same concepts applied to the Spartans as it does to Rangers fighting in the hills of Afghanistan as it does to young men sweating in late August double-session football practices in West Texas.
We all fight. It is about the fight. We are all warriors. We all fight our own internal battles as we struggle to be ourselves. We are all Spartans as we fight The Resistance that keeps us from reaching our true potential. (The Resistance is a Pressfield concept from "The War of Art").
This is a must read. And read again. And again.
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