{"product_id":"cleopatra-a-life-9780316120449","title":"Cleopatra: A Life","description":"\u003cb\u003eNamed a \"Best Book of the 21st Century\" by \u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e, this biography from a Pulitzer Prize-winning author brings to life the most intriguing woman in history: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Above all else, Cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e She was married twice, each time to a brother. She waged a brutal civil war against the first when both were teenagers. She poisoned the second. Ultimately she dispensed with an ambitious sister as well--incest and assassination were family specialties. Cleopatra appears to have had sex with only two men. They happen, however, to have been Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, among the most prominent Romans of the day. (Both were married to other women.) Cleopatra had a child with Caesar and--after his murder--three more with his protégé. Already she was the wealthiest ruler in the Mediterranean, and her relationship with Antony confirmed her status as the most influential woman of the age. The two would together attempt to forge a new empire, in an alliance that spelled their ends. Cleopatra has lodged herself in our imaginations ever since. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e Famous long before she was notorious, Cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Shakespeare and Shaw put words in her mouth. Michelangelo, Tiepolo, and Elizabeth Taylor put a face to her name. Along the way, Cleopatra's supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eIn a masterly return to the classical sources, Stacy Schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. Rich in detail, epic in scope, Schiff's is a luminous, deeply original reconstruction of a dazzling life.\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\"Stacy Schiff does a rare thing: She gives us a book we'd miss if it didn't exist.\" ―\u003ci\u003eThe Wall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Hardcover\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Little Brown and Company\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 11\/01\/2010\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780316120449\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 640\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 2.03lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 9.50h x 6.35w x 1.87d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLarge Print\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eReview Citations: \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e 12\/03\/2010 pg. 48\u003cbr\u003e","brand":"Stacy Schiff","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52403348242613,"sku":"9780316120449","price":42.5,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0473\/0804\/6492\/files\/img_24770772-c795-45a9-8da3-cf9743f667d2.jpg?v=1774968877","url":"https:\/\/pastforward.org\/products\/cleopatra-a-life-9780316120449","provider":"Past Forward","version":"1.0","type":"link"}