A vivid biography of the ancient world’s most famous queen.

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.

Times Higher Education Supplement
“A very readable account of the life of Cleopatra VII, and one that goes some way to redress the way in which she is often viewed. It also provides intriguing insights into life and society in the Egypt of the Ptolemies and the position of Egypt in the world-system of its time.”

Sunday Telegraph
“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.”

The Mail on Sunday
“One of the many merits of this sympathetic biography is that [Tyldesley] is able to place Cleopatra securely in Egyptian culture and history.”

Los Angeles Daily News
“Fascinating and irresistible.”

Tucson Citizen
“This is a multilayered biography of one of the most interesting historical figures ever. Tyldesley presents the great queen in such a way that she almost leaps from the printed page.”

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.

Imprint: Basic Books
Distributor: Perseus Books Group
Publication Date: 08-25-2008
Pages: 304
Measurements: 9.25in X 6.13in