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Steven Pressfield was in his fifties before he had a book that sold. Born in Trinidad in 1943, he worked as a Marine, a truck driver, an oilfield roustabout, an advertising copywriter and a Hollywood screenwriter (Above the Law, 1988) while his early novels went unpublished. Then came The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995) and Gates of Fire (1998), the Thermopylae novel the US Army and Marine Corps put on their professional reading lists. In 2002 he wrote The War of Art, a short book about the force he calls Resistance, and it made him as well known to writers and founders as to readers of historical fiction. Steven Pressfield’s books now run to 24 titles, split almost evenly between ancient-world novels and books on creative work. This guide covers his 11 key books, in order, and where to begin.
By Lisanne Swart · 11 key books · 1995–2026 · Updated October 2026
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Quick answer
Steven Pressfield has published 24 books: 12 novels and 12 works of nonfiction. The best known are The War of Art (2002), his book on creative Resistance, and Gates of Fire (1998), a novel of Thermopylae. Start with The War of Art if you make things, or Gates of Fire if you want the novelist. His newest book is The Arcadian (2026).
Where to Start with Steven Pressfield Books
If you want the book on creative work
→ The War of Art (2002) — the short book that names Resistance.
If you want his best novel
→ Gates of Fire (1998) — Thermopylae, told by a Greek survivor.
If you are a writer who wants craft
→ Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t (2016) — lessons from advertising, Hollywood and fiction.
If you want something lighter to begin
→ The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995) — his first novel, about golf and the Bhagavad Gita.
11 Steven Pressfield Books, in Order
The Legend of Bagger Vance
In Savannah, Georgia, in 1931, Rannulph Junuh, a golfing prodigy broken by the First World War, is talked into an exhibition match against Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen, with a mysterious caddie, Bagger Vance, at his side. The story is a loose retelling of the Bhagavad Gita. Robert Redford filmed it in 2000 with Matt Damon and Will Smith.
A good way in if the ancient history of Gates of Fire feels like a larger commitment. His preoccupations are all here in their earliest form: the warrior facing the test, the mentor who appears when needed, the search for an authentic swing.
— LisanneGates of Fire
The stand of the 300 Spartans at Thermopylae in 480 BC, told by Xeones, a squire from Astakos and one of the few Greeks to survive the battle, who dictates his story to the Persian king Xerxes. It appears on the US Army Chief of Staff’s professional reading list and the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ reading list. A film version was planned at George Clooney’s company but never made.
His masterwork of fiction. What makes it exceptional is not the battle scenes, extraordinary as they are, but its examination of what Spartan society was actually for. Read it in as few sittings as possible.
— LisanneTides of War
The 27-year war between Athens and Sparta, told by Polemides, an Athenian soldier and one-time bodyguard of the general Alcibiades, as he waits in his cell for execution. Through him we watch Alcibiades fight for Athens, then Sparta, then Persia, trusted by none of them.
Darker and more politically entangled than Gates of Fire, and more interested in failure than in heroism. Read it after Gates of Fire, not before.
— LisanneThe War of Art
A short book in three parts about Resistance, Pressfield’s name for the impersonal force that stops people from doing their real work: how to recognise it, how to beat it by working like a professional, and a final, more mystical part about muses and inspiration. It became his most widely read book.
It is on my shelf because it names something real, and treating Resistance as an external force rather than a personal failing is both useful and astute. The third section, about the muses, is the most divisive; the first two stand entirely on their own. Read it in one sitting.
— LisanneThe Virtues of War
Alexander the Great tells his own story, from his first battles in Greece through the conquest of Persia to the campaigns in Afghanistan and India, as an account of command and of what conquest cost him and the men around him.
The most psychologically interior of his ancient novels. Writing Alexander in the first person forces Pressfield to make him understandable from the inside, not just impressive from the outside.
— LisanneDo the Work
A short, practical follow-up to The War of Art, written nine years later. It takes one creative project from the first idea to the finish and marks the places where Resistance strikes hardest.
The book to reach for when you already believe in Resistance and need something procedural. Read The War of Art first, then this, then go do the work.
— LisanneTurning Pro
On the shift from amateur to professional: the moment work stops depending on mood and becomes the thing a life is organised around. It draws on Pressfield’s own lost years before he started writing seriously.
Read it immediately after The War of Art. Not because it covers new ground, but because it sharpens the earlier book's central argument.
— LisanneNobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t
A writing book built on his career: advertising copy, then Hollywood screenplays, then novels and nonfiction. Each stage gives one lesson, starting from the title’s premise that readers owe a writer nothing and have to be won.
The Pressfield book I recommend to writers over The War of Art. Not because it is better, but because it is more actionable: that book is about orientation, this one is about execution.
— LisanneThe Knowledge
A struggling, unpublished writer in 1970s New York takes a job that pulls him towards the city’s criminal fringe. It is his most autobiographical novel, set in the years of failure that The War of Art describes from the outside.
The odd one out, and worth it. Read it after The War of Art, not before: it is the same argument with the theory taken out, and you watch someone fail for years at exactly the thing the later book tells you how to do.
— LisanneA Man at Arms
Around AD 55, Telamon of Arcadia, a mercenary, is hired by Rome to stop a letter from the apostle Paul reaching the church at Corinth. Travelling with the courier’s mute daughter, he starts to doubt the job.
It reads as much like a Western as a historical epic. Telamon returns, generations later, in The Arcadian.
— LisanneThe Arcadian
Telamon returns, centuries later, in sixteenth-century Spain, drawn into a war between Portuguese invaders and Andalusian defenders as the armies close on a besieged city. Published by W. W. Norton in May 2026, it is his newest novel.
A standalone read, but it lands with more weight if you have already spent time with Telamon. His most explicitly mystical novel.
— LisanneIn What Order to Read Steven Pressfield Books
Pressfield’s books fall into two shelves that rarely touch: novels of the ancient world, and short books about doing creative work. You can read either shelf on its own. Nothing in the novels needs to be read in order except the two Telamon books, A Man at Arms and The Arcadian.
On the nonfiction shelf, order does help: The War of Art sets out the idea of Resistance, and Do the Work, Turning Pro and Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t build on it. For the novels, start with Gates of Fire and follow publication order.
A reading path
1. The War of Art (2002)
2. Gates of Fire (1998)
3. Turning Pro (2012)
4. Tides of War (2000)
5. Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t (2016)
Everything Else Steven Pressfield Published
Beyond the 11 key books: 13 more, grouped by kind.
Open a group with the + to see every book in it.
Novels
5
5 books · 2002–2019
- 2002Last of the AmazonsTheseus and the Amazons in ancient Athens
- 2006The Afghan CampaignAlexander’s army in Afghanistan, from a soldier’s view
- 2008Killing Rommela British raid behind German lines in North Africa, 1942
- 2011The Professiona near-future thriller about a mercenary army
- 201936 Righteous Mena thriller about a string of murders and an old Jewish legend
Nonfiction
8
8 books · 2011–2023
- 2011The Warrior Ethosa short book on the warrior code from Sparta onwards
- 2013The Authentic Swinghow he wrote his first published novel
- 2014The Lion’s Gatean oral history of the Six-Day War
- 2015An American Jewa writer confronts his own identity
- 2018The Artist’s Journeythe creative life after the hero’s journey
- 2022Put Your Ass Where Your Heart Wants to Bea short book on committing to the work
- 2022Govt Cheesehis memoir
- 2023The Daily Pressfieldshort daily readings
The years · 1943–2026
Quick facts about Steven Pressfield
- Known for
- Pressfield is known for naming Resistance, the inner force that stops creative work, and for novels that put readers inside the battles of ancient Greece.
- 1943
- Born in Port of Spain, Trinidad
- 1966
- Joins the US Marine Corps
- 1988
- Co-writes the film Above the Law
- 1998
- Gates of Fire
- 2026
- The Arcadian
- Born
- 1 September 1943, Port of Spain, Trinidad, where his father was stationed with the US Navy
- Education
- Duke University, BA 1965
- Service
- US Marine Corps, from 1966
- Before books
- Copywriter, teacher, truck driver, roustabout, fruit-picker and screenwriter
- Screenplays
- King Kong Lives (1986), Above the Law (1988), Freejack (1992)
- Books
- 24: 12 novels and 12 works of nonfiction (1995–2026)
The red mark is 1998: Gates of Fire, the novel of Thermopylae that made his name.
How Steven Pressfield Writes: Resistance and the Professional
Almost everything Pressfield writes comes back to one idea: the work has an enemy. In The War of Art he calls it Resistance and describes it as impersonal, like weather, rather than a flaw of character. The answer he gives is not inspiration but habit: turn up at the same hour, every day, like a professional.
His novels are about the same virtues under fire. They are mostly told in the first person by a soldier, often an outsider or a survivor — a squire at Thermopylae, a condemned Athenian, Alexander himself, a mercenary — who looks back on a battle and tries to say what courage and duty meant. The battles are reconstructed in close physical detail, which is one reason the US Army and Marine Corps put Gates of Fire on their reading lists.
The nonfiction is short, direct and built from his own failures: the decades of unpublished novels, the screenplays, the jobs he took to keep going. For writers who share his mix of discipline and creative philosophy, see Authors like Steven Pressfield.
Watch
Steven Pressfield on talent and Resistance
Pressfield talks with the photographer and podcaster Chase Jarvis on Chase Jarvis LIVE about Resistance, turning pro and why he thinks talent matters less than work.
Frequently asked questions about Steven Pressfield’s books
How many books has Steven Pressfield written?
Steven Pressfield has published 24 books, from The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995) to The Arcadian (2026): 12 novels and 12 works of nonfiction. The 11 key books are listed on this page; the other 13 are in the full list below them.
What are Steven Pressfield’s books in order?
The key books in order: The Legend of Bagger Vance (1995), Gates of Fire (1998), Tides of War (2000), The War of Art (2002), The Virtues of War (2004), Do the Work (2011), Turning Pro (2012), Nobody Wants to Read Your Sh*t (2016), The Knowledge (2016), A Man at Arms (2021) and The Arcadian (2026).
Where should I start with Steven Pressfield?
With The War of Art if you are interested in writing, art or any creative work; it is short and sets out the idea behind most of his nonfiction. If you want his fiction, start with Gates of Fire.
What is Steven Pressfield’s most famous book?
The War of Art (2002) is his most widely read book. Among his novels, Gates of Fire (1998) is the best known.
What is Gates of Fire about?
The Battle of Thermopylae in 480 BC, told by Xeones, a squire who fought with the Spartans and is one of the few Greeks to survive. He tells his story to the Persian king Xerxes. The novel is on the US Army Chief of Staff’s and the Commandant of the Marine Corps’ reading lists.
What is Resistance in The War of Art?
Pressfield’s name for the force that stops people doing the work that matters most to them: procrastination, distraction, self-doubt. He treats it as impersonal and predictable rather than a personal failing, and argues that it is beaten by working like a professional, every day.
What is the difference between The War of Art and Do the Work?
The War of Art (2002) explains Resistance and the professional mindset. Do the Work (2011), written nine years later, is a practical walk through one project from start to finish, showing where Resistance appears along the way.
Have any Steven Pressfield books been made into films?
Yes, one: The Legend of Bagger Vance, directed by Robert Redford in 2000, with Matt Damon and Will Smith. Critics faulted the film for using the “magical Negro” stereotype in Smith’s role. A film of Gates of Fire was developed at George Clooney’s company but never made.
Do I need to read A Man at Arms before The Arcadian?
No, but it helps. Both follow Telamon of Arcadia, a mercenary: A Man at Arms (2021) in the Roman world around AD 55, The Arcadian (2026) in sixteenth-century Spain. Read them in that order.
What is Steven Pressfield’s newest book?
The Arcadian, a novel published by W. W. Norton in May 2026.
Who is Steven Pressfield?
An American novelist and nonfiction writer, born on 1 September 1943 in Port of Spain, Trinidad. He studied at Duke University, joined the US Marine Corps in 1966 and worked many jobs, including screenwriting, before The Legend of Bagger Vance was published in his early fifties.
Did Steven Pressfield write screenplays?
Yes. Before his novels he worked in Hollywood; his credits include King Kong Lives (1986), Above the Law (1988), Freejack (1992) and Joshua Tree (1993).
Is Steven Pressfield still alive?
Yes. He was born in 1943 and published his newest novel, The Arcadian, in 2026.
Footnotes
- Steven Pressfield — Wikipedia
- Gates of Fire — Wikipedia
- Pressfield, Steven — SF Encyclopedia
- Tides of War — Publishers Weekly
- The Arcadian — Bookreporter
- Steven Pressfield: Talent is bullsh*t — Chase Jarvis
Bibliography last verified 9 October 2026. Where sources give different first-publication years, this page uses the year in library catalogues or the publisher’s own record.
This list was not put together by a machine.
The notes are all mine,
and the books are all his.
Lisanne x
Written by Lisanne Swart, who has curated reading lists and author guides at lisanneswart.com since 2021.
See more on her personal bookshelf.
“The most important thing about art is to work. Nothing else matters except sitting down every day and trying.”
— Steven Pressfield, The War of Art (2002)
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