Cleopatra - Last Queen of Egypt (Hardcover, illustrated edition)

A new biography of the Macedonian ruler attempts to debunk many myths surrounding her legacy.Egyptologist Tyldesley (Egypt: How a Lost Civilization Was Rediscovered, 2006, etc.) digs deeply into Cleopatra's life, piecing together a unique portrait of her successes and failures. In chronological fashion, the author covers the major historical issues surrounding Cleopatra, but she wisely avoids lingering too long on well-traveled ground. Tyldesley examines many of the burning questions that continue to puzzle historians - Was she black? Did she marry her brother? Was she beautiful or ugly? - and that have helped create such a beguiling picture of the queen. Many biographers focus too much on Cleopatra's reputation as a temptress, but Tyldesley gamely analyzes her politically astute nature at work against the backdrop of the bloody, brutal times in which she operated. However, the author doesn't shy away from discussing the many apocryphal tales that swirl around the Ptolemaic ruler: the queen smuggling herself in a roll of linen sheets (or, in more common myth, a carpet) in an attempt to reach Caesar; the presentation of Pompey's severed and pickled head to Caesar as a gift, etc. The various stories about Cleopatra's relationship with Antony are thoroughly dissected, and Tyldesley supplements these with a neat examination of Shakespeare's Antony and Cleopatra. The most absorbing passages concern her relationship with Antony and her subsequent demise, which are interspersed with (sometimes conflicting) quotations from fellow historians. Tyldesley also includes a welcome guide to the individual characters that Cleopatra encountered during the Ptolemaic period.A satisfying blend of historical fact and strong, informed opinion about one of history's most captivating figures. (Kirkus Reviews)

The Romans regarded her as 'fatale monstrum', a female Saddam Hussein. Pascal said the shape of her nose changed the history of the world. Shakespeare and Tiepolo (and Elizabeth Taylor) portrayed her as an icon of tragic beauty. But who was Cleopatra, really?She was the last ruler of the Macedonian dynasty of Ptolemies who had ruled Egypt for three centuries. Highly educated (she was the only one of the Ptolemies to read and speak ancient Egyptian as well as the court Greek) and very clever (her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony were as much to do with politics as the heart), she steered her kingdom through impossibly taxing internal problems and against greedy Roman imperialism. Stripping away our preconceptions, many of them as old as her Roman enemies, Joyce Tyldesley uses all her skills as an Egyptologist to give us a rich picture of a country and its Egyptian queen in this magnificent biography.

General

Imprint:	Profile Books Ltd
Country of origin:	United Kingdom
Release date:	February 2008
Authors:	Joyce Tyldesley
Format:	Hardcover
Pages:	320
Edition:	illustrated edition
ISBN-13:	978-1-86197-965-0
Categories:	Books > Language & Literature > Biography & autobiography > Historical, political & military Books > Humanities > History > African history > BCE to 500 CE Books > History > African history > BCE to 500 CE Books > Biography > Historical, political & military
LSN:	1-86197-965-7
Barcode:	9781861979650

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