Cleopatra (Large Print)
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Our Price: US$37.99
Volume(s): 1
Format Details: 16pt, Verdana
ISBN(s): 9781458759696
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Editorial Reviews
· “This entertaining biography hits the elusive sweet spot between scholarship and readability…” —Publishers Weekly, Starred Review
· “Though you might think everything you need to know about Cleopatra has already been written, think again. The life story of Cleopatra has become so distorted and embellished through the multiple lenses of history, legend, film, fiction, and archaeology, it is often difficult to tell the difference between fact and fiction. Egyptologist Tyldesley undertakes the daunting task of separating myth from reality in this slightly revisionist biography of the last of the Ptolemies. By juxtaposing her reign with the decline of the Egyptian Empire rather than the rise of Rome, the author is able to place Cleopatra firmly into historical and cultural context. What emerges is a portrait of a cunning political operator ruthlessly attempting to reestablish Egyptian supremacy in a rapidly shrinking world overwhelmed by the vast power of the mighty Roman Empire.” —Booklist
· “Fascinating and irresistible.” —Los Angeles Daily News
· “Tyldesley’s strength has always been her storytelling, and here she is on top form. The Ptolemaic court was an in-bred and volatile place where assassination of family rivals was commonplace, and she brings out well the effect of the entry of Rome into this bewildering madhouse.... Tyldesley takes this terrific story on in fine style…a gripping narrative.” —Sunday Telegraph
About the Book
The Romans regarded her as ''fatale monstrum'' - a fatal omen. Pascal said the shape of her nose changed the history of the world. Shakespeare portrayed her as an icon of tragic love. But who was Cleopatra, really? Cleopatra was the last ruler of the Macedonian dynasty of Ptolemies. Highly intelligent, she spoke many languages and was rumored to be the only Ptolemy to read and speak Egyptian. Her famous liaisons with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony had as much to do with politics as the heart. Ruthless in dealing with her enemies, many within her own family, Cleopatra steered her kingdom through difficult times, and very nearly succeeded in creating an eastern empire to rival the growing might of Rome. Her story was well documented by her near contemporaries, and the tragic tale of contrasts and oppositions - the seductive but failing power of ancient Egypt versus the virile strength of modern Rome - is so familiar we almost feel that we know Cleopatra. But our picture is highly distorted. Cleopatra is often portrayed as a woman ruled by emotion rather than reason; a queen hurtling towards inevitable self-destruction. But these tales of seduction, intrigue, and suicide by asp have obfuscated Cleopatra's true political genius. Stripping away our preconceptions, many of them as old as Egypt's Roman conquerors, Egyptologist Joyce Tyldesley offers a magnificent biography of a most extraordinary queen.
About the Author
Joyce Tyldesley, Ph.D., holds a first class honors degree in archaeology from Liverpool University and a doctorate from Oxford University. She is currently Honorary Research Fellow at Liverpool University, and a tutor at Manchester University. She has acted as consultant on several television projects, and is an experienced broadcaster. Her previous books include a sequence of popular biographies of Egyptian pharaohs, with particular emphasis on the lives of prominent Egyptian women. She lives in Bolton, England.
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