Cleopatra: A Life
The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt. Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spa...show more
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Community Reviews
Thoughtful recasting of a remarkable and complex historical figure that I thought I knew but had little appreciation for.
Even in her own biography the book somehow reads as a partial telling of the three historical figures whose lives intersected hers (Julius Caesar, mark antony, and Octavian), which is well done and potentially inevitable.
The book also casts a spotlight on the role of gender in history’s appraisal of cleopatras role and action...read more
Even in her own biography the book somehow reads as a partial telling of the three historical figures whose lives intersected hers (Julius Caesar, mark antony, and Octavian), which is well done and potentially inevitable.
The book also casts a spotlight on the role of gender in history’s appraisal of cleopatras role and action...read more
I enjoy biographies, especially about strong, powerful women. I like how Stacy Schiff kept to historical accounts and separated fact from fiction. So much of what I thought I "knew" about Cleopatra was culled from movies and fantasy tales. I think if Cleopatra had been a man, history would have treated her differently.
“As always, an educated woman was a dangerous woman.”
― Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life
I picked this book going in because it was a fairly straightforward historical account, not one of those silly romantic non-fiction books that read like fiction. I listened to all 13+ hours and was hooked. I've never watched the movies, never cared for Elizabeth Taylor, so I went into this with very little knowledge of the Queen of Egypt.
Unfortunately, histor...read more
― Stacy Schiff, Cleopatra: A Life
I picked this book going in because it was a fairly straightforward historical account, not one of those silly romantic non-fiction books that read like fiction. I listened to all 13+ hours and was hooked. I've never watched the movies, never cared for Elizabeth Taylor, so I went into this with very little knowledge of the Queen of Egypt.
Unfortunately, histor...read more
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