in addition to Cleopatra's story, the information on the education and role of women is fascinating

Schiff does not present all the known versions of Cleopatra's life. She picks and chooses, most of the time with good judgment and explanation, but sometimes simply to create a spicy story. The book I had contained corrections from some random person exposing some of the flaws in Schiff's book (ex. She claims Zeus's mother was born from an egg). I would choose Roller's biography of Cleopatra as a more informative, unbiased text. It's a little boring though

an apparently thorough biography of the last queen of Egypt marred only by an obfuscating style, the author demystifies the legend but too often does the reverse to her prose

intellectual trip back to the rebellious 1960's. Not a quick read but a rewarding one.

I really liked this biography of Cleopatra. The author manages to sift through the known facts and various myths of this enigmatic woman and presents a portrait of her that doesn't quite fit the romanticized legend we are more familiar with. Highly recommended.

this book started out very academic, then it shifted to a crazy crazy story about power, money, love, revenge and trust. amazing story. I really enjoyed the way she really wove the tale of "we don't actually know much about cleopatra, but based on this research and these stories, this is what we can piece together." what she pieces together is a fascinating tale of a woman who was smart, powerful and determined.

The author cleverly stays away from too much detail about Cleopatra's early life and instead focuses on her life as a young woman and pharaoh. She helped me to understand everything that happened before the Romans entered the picture.

Setting the stage in the opening material for the conflicitng material available in the original sources regarding the last queen of Egypt. Despite the disinformation and shortage or material, Sciff shares a picture of accomplishment and focus.

Interesting reading. Though historical gaps abound, Schiff adroitly reveals the truth behind the myth of Cleopatra. Just a heads up: This is a biography not a story so the tone is scholarly. This author really does her research and writes accessibly and very well.

This biography is superb, a total page turner. Schiff is careful to distinguish what the record is clear on, and what it's not. Even so, she brings clearly to life a Cleopatra for our age, and she's not Elizabeth Taylor. She's carefully set in the context of her time and place, no hero, very complex, always keeping in the forefront of her mind the needs of Egypt. This is in contrast to her lovers Caesar and Mark Antony, whom she may or may not have loved, but for whom sheer power mattered even more than Rome. They too emerge as well rounded characters, as does Octavian. The only off note is the cover picture, which, though not showing her face, makes her look beautiful, something Schiff insists she probably wasn't, in spite of the legends to the contrary.