Cleopatra

A Life

By: Stacy Schiff

Narrated by: Robin Miles

Length: 14 hrs and 16 mins

Publisher's summary

The Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world: Cleopatra, the last queen of Egypt.

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. 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; the 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.

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. In 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.

Download the accompanying reference guide.

©2010 Stacy Schiff (P)2010 Hachette Audio

Critic reviews

"Stacy Schiff does a rare thing: She gives us a book we'd miss if it didn't exist."—Wall Street Journal

"A masterpiece."—Daily Beast

"Captivating...Ms. Schiff strips away the accretions of myth that have built up around the Egyptian queen and plucks off the imaginative embroiderings of Shakespeare, Shaw and Elizabeth Taylor. In doing so, she gives us a cinematic portrait of a historical figure far more complex and compelling than any fictional creation, and a wide, panning, panoramic picture of her world."—Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

A powerful woman,whom I never before knew.

Misunderstood and maligned by all other rulers, Cleopatra survived misogynistic intent. She was dead at 38. During her life, she ruled a country superior to Rome in all but battle, a country where she was a clever and respect leader for 18 years. Married to Julius Ceasar and Marc Anthony, She had 4 children. She was the richest woman in the world for almost two decades. "At her death, began the modern age for women."

Great Book....Characters are brought to Life

I really enjoyed this book. Great to listen to, so I bought the e-book to see it in print and re-read because I felt that, in listening, I lost a lot of the detail. Not to demean Audible books, but there's only so much you can assimilate when listening. I felt that Schiff made the characters seem like "real people" who did not look the hieroglyphic style art that we see of them. (Think Steve Martin on SNL). That was the picture of Egyptians (ancient) that I had prior to reading this book. Little did I know that Cleopatra wasn't Egyptian, but Greek. There's so much history here, presented in an interesting and human fashion. Cleo, herself, J. Caesar, Marc Anthony, Octavian, Cicero, Plutarch, et.al. Interesting that Cleopatra's "reputation" has been defiled over the centuries, much like Mary Magdalene's, which most likely neither deserved. A very good read!

good historical review

Would you consider the audio edition of Cleopatra to be better than the print version?

dont know print version, but audio quite good

What did you like best about this story?

Clear explainatiion of complex historical events

Have you listened to any of Robin Miles’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

have not heard before

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

no

Cleopatra Vindicated

Finally, a good page turner about Cleopatra and her time. Loved it, will be downloading more books by both, the author and the narrator.

A good listen

A good read though it dragged a bit in the middle but the main characters are outstanding. I recommend for anyone interested in the life of Cleopatra, a uniquely extraordinary woman that lived her life on her own terms....unapologetically 😊

the reader is good, clean diction and a good pace

This is an excellent option for audio, as the material can be somewhat dry and with my ADD I found it easier to listen, then make copious use of the "30sec replay, than read for more than an hour or so at a time.

I come away from this investment in time and dollars, feeling as of I have a solid background in the subject.

Informative

I purchased this book after reading Michelle Moran's "Cleopatra's Daughter", "Nefertiti" and "The Heretic Queen". I really enjoyed the time period and thought Cleopatra would be interesting as well.

While the book was good, it was very detailed, using other historians' theories about her life. The author made good points, supported by research and facts, but it was hard to follow in an audio format.

Well & Thoroughly Written, So Beautifully Read!

I so enjoyed listening to this enlightening biography. Thank you Stacy Schiffer and Robin Miles.

A great audio book.

Great narrator, good true to life story. I enjoyed immensely. I learned alot, including new vocabulary.

Great Book!

Written well, I appreciate a female’s insight on one of the most famous (infamous?) ladies of all time.

Enjoyed the readers voice and style very much as well.

This one will stay in my library.