Gates of Fire vs Spies of the Balkans: Which Should You Read?

Both live on shelves: Greece, New York Times reviewed, General, History, Fiction

Gates of Fire

Gates of Fire Steven Pressfield · 1998 ★★★★☆ 4.5 387 pages · ≈ 7 h 10 m · Moderate Find on Amazon

Spies of the Balkans Alan Furst · 2010 ★★★★☆ 4.0 275 pages · ≈ 5 h 06 m · Challenging Find on Amazon

The verdict

Readers rate Gates of Fire higher: 4.5 vs 4.0 from 669 votes.
Spies of the Balkans is the quicker read — about 5 hours vs 7 for Gates of Fire.
Gates of Fire is the easier read (Moderate), Spies of the Balkans more demanding (Challenging).