Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy SchiffMy rating: 4 of 5 stars
I didn't know anything really about Cleopatra, or that time period, before I read Cleopatra. She really did lead a fascinating life and I can see why books, plays, and movies have used her as their subject--Everything is almost jaw-dropping over the top--from the knee-high carpet of rose petals to the month long celebrations of their self-appointed claims of deity to Marc Anthony, dying, scaling a wall to die in his lover's arms. Schiff tries hard to defend Cleopatra from her detractors--sometimes a little too much so for it to be truly unbiased. And Schiff's wordy and esoteric narrative often gets in the way of what is by itself a fascinating subject.
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