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.

Ancient Egypt never goes out of style, and Cleopatra continues to captivate successive generations.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 emerges as a groundbreaking female leader, relying on her wits, determination, and political acumen rather than sex appeal to astutely wield her power in order to get the job done. Though long on facts and short on myth, this stellar biography is still a page-turner in fact, because this portrait is grounded so thoroughly in historical context, it is even more extraordinary than the more fanciful legend.

Rather than a devastatingly beautiful femme fatale, Cleopatra, according to Schiff, was a shrewd power broker who knew how to use her manifold gifts-wealth, power, and intelligence-to negotiate advantageous political deals and military alliances. Vladimir Nabokov) (1999), provides a new interpretation of the life of one of history’s most enduringly intriguing women. Schiff, demonstrating the same narrative flair that captivated readers of her Pulitzer Prize–winning Véra (Mrs. For those who think they know enough about Cleopatra or have the enigmatic Egyptian queen all figured out, think again.

Cleopatra book stacy schiff