'Cleopatra is buried under centuries of lies, and Stacy Schiff calls on her considerable powers to bring her back to life for us. Ellis, author of Founding Brothers and First Family: Abigail and John We see it here on every page.' - Joseph J. Style, like leadership, is difficult to define, but we know it when we see it. 'It is a beautiful pairing - the most alluring and elusive woman in recorded history, and one of the most gifted biographers of our time. Successfully dissipating all the perfume, Schiff finds a remarkably complex woman-brutal and loving, dependent and independent, immensely strong but finally vulnerable.' - Kirkus 'Undergraduates, lovers of biography or ancient history, and those seeking an introduction to Cleopatra will delight in this take on the near-mythical last queen of Egypt.' - Library Journal

No one will think of Cleopatra in quite the same way after reading this vivid, provocative book.' - Publishers Weekly excellent, myth-busting agic, page-turning reading. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff 's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life. In a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since.įamous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean the relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and-after his murder-three more with his protégé.

They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well incest and assassination were family specialties. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers.

She was married twice, each time to a brother. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator.

Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

Cleopatra stacy schiff review