Overview

"""Joann Fletcher has the good grace and specialist knowledge to do away with Roman romances. This book's bedrock is Egyptology. . . . Cleopatra was, indeed, not just a 'baleful beauty;' she was great."" --History Today Cleopatra the Great tells the story of a turbulent time and the extraordinary woman at its center. Intelligent and compulsively readable, this is an unparalleled biography worthy of one of history's most fascinating leaders: politician, mother, and goddess, the legendary Cleopatra. The subject of myth for more than two millennia, Cleopatra has long been obscured by Roman propaganda, Shakespearean tragedy, and Hollywood glamour. Yet Cleopatra was a woman of passion, magnetism, and political genius, the last and perhaps the greatest Egyptian pharaoh. In Cleopatra the Great, world-renowned Egyptologist Joann Fletcher draws on a wealth of newly discovered information and research to reveal this vital woman as she truly was--a polymath monarch; a potent combination of traditionalist and innovator; an astute futurist; and a ruthless opportunist who would let nothing stand in her way."

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9780060585594

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Reviews

Fletcher aims to place [Cleopatra] as one of history's 'key players' and not so much Egyptian as Mediterranean, for she could trace her ancestry to Macedonia, and her life was dependent on the rise and fall of the Greeks . . . Much of the pleasure comes from her broad knowledge of the world in which her heroine lived, especially the religious rituals. --Daily Telegraph (London) [A] major myth-buster. . . . This robust portrait of one of history's most famously misunderstood leaders shines a new spotlight on an old subject, proving once again that Cleopatra is ageless as well as timeless. --Booklist Egyptologist Fletcher has undoubtedly established the new standard in biographies. . . . Exceedingly well-written. . . . A comprehensive examination. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)

Author Information

Dr. Joann Fletcher is an honorary research and teaching fellow at the University of York, where she teaches Egyptian funerary archaeology and mummification. The author of numerous articles and books, she also lectures widely. She lives in Yorkshire, England.

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