The Memoirs of Cleopatra

Let's face it, history can be boring. Not so this account of the life of Cleopatra. Sure, I get all the names confused, and at times I found myself referring to a map to see where everything was happening, but listening to this account for a couple of hours each day on my ride to work I felt like I was spending time with an intimate friend. The author has a marvelous way of mixing historic accounts with a touch of a harlaquine romance (we are talking about Cleopatra.) By the time I was through with this story I felt I knew not only Cleopatra, but the whole cast of charecters in a new and unique way. Well done!

Don't let other reviewers' impressions of the narrators' voices put you off. This is a powerful story told from a unique perspective, and is not to be missed. If you're interested in ancient Egyptian culture, you won't be disappointed. If you're interested in intimate details of daily life - fashion, style, design, entertaining and religion - you won't be sorry.

I have read all of Margaret George's books and lately have been revisiting them through audio.com and this story is even more thrilling than the read.

This is a wonderful story with historical references. If you are a history buff and also enjoy good fiction, this is a truly captivating story. One of the greatest story's ever told, and told again and again. I truly enjoyed this version.

Margaret George did a masterful job of research and storytelling, giving the reader a front row seat into history. However, it came off too much like a Danielle Steele romance novel. Cleopatra was supposed to be hightly intelligent, speaking 12 languages, and one of the great female rulers. Yet here we are led to believe that she was the equivalent of a "B.C. video vixen", dating only "Roman rock stars", becoming the "first #1 baby-mama" with several "baby daddies" who gave her "booty calls" but no wedding rings. She dated married men, left her children while she went "on the road" behind Julius Caesar and Marc Antony like a "band wife", leaving Egypt to be run by employees and eunuchs. George does give the reader fabulous in-depth descriptions of the characters and locations. I thought it to be such a definitive account of that time in history that I invested in a hard copy version to fully appreciate the names and places put forth here. If you are interested in a good read about Egypt, Rome, the mighty Nile River, Caesar, Antony, Octavian, Marcus Agrippa, Fulvia, Cornelia, and the Kandake of Meroe, to name a very few, in addition to the battles and technology of the time, this is the book for you. But if this is truly what Cleopatra was about, then we've been fooled all of this time. Here she is an indifferent ruler, a bit loose with her virtue (rolling out of a rug for a roll in the hay with J.C. on their first meeting is trifling), and a very negligent mother - putting the men in her life before the welfare of her children and her people. I was very impressed with Margaret George's dedication to this subject and I loved the book. But it left me very, very disappointed in Cleopatra as a woman and a queen. Marge, you turned Cleo into margarine! Fabio should have graced the cover as Marc Antony. Now I ain't saying she was a gold digger, but......

Classic Margaret George!! This novel was fascinating and bursting with knowledge of the period and places! Riveting right until the very end!

I had been looking for cleopatra's story after seeing the HBO series "Rome" and this story and its dramatic reading have taken me to the ancient world of egypt, rome and beyond and gave me the opportunity to know Cleopatra as a real woman, with a real story...it makes her so real and the detail is so vivid
Every woman should know this story!

Such a wonderfully told story . . . I was glued to my earphones for weeks! I read this book in preparation for a trip to Egypt and, "faction" (fiction + fact) or not, I felt quite prepared once I arrived at the pyramids. George meticulously researches her books and I found her sense of Egyptian history to be quite stirring. The narration was also excellent.

I loved this book! I loved the story, the history, the way the narrator told the story and it was thoroughly enjoyable! I highly recommend this book!

Ms. George has crafted a vibrant telling of the familiar history of Caesar, Cleopatra, Antony, & Octavian. Her careful research of fact, relaible accounts and her fiction combine in an utterly believeable historical novel. Her powers of description carry the listener back in time--close your eyes and you can almost see the characters moving about in Rome and Egypt shaping the events that created Western Civilization.