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

limited by the available sources

the book promises revelation on Cleopatra's life but only provides new perspectives on the same material gleaned from Roman historians. much of the book is about the lives and doings of Caesar, Antony, and Octavian. The real value in the story is providing a new interpretation on events, one that better explains the Egyptian Queen's role in events, if not quite giving us the life story promised.

I very much enjoyed this book.

I enjoyed the contender very much. I learned quite a bit and still feel like I only know a little bit more than I did at the outset. which is a good thing. I had not realized how tumultuous the world was during the time of Cleopatra.

interesting listen

It's a marathon rather than an audiobook but i enjoed learning about Cleopatra, possibly the most powerful woman in human history. The author made a good effort researching the subject but if it was reasearch alone it would have made for a much shorter listen. There are plenty of adjectives in the story, to let you know what the author's views are. If you don't mind - it's a great listen!

Boring but complete historically

I was expecting a historical novel but instead got a documentary. Tiresome but at the same time very informative. I learned a lot but feel historical fiction could have taught the same information in a more interesting way.

what a great book!

I learned more from this book than many I have read lately. it is extremely interesting and nothing like the history we've come to know.

Boring

Narrator was boring. Book was written quite well but just a bit slow for me.

Cleopatra

This book is packed with so much information about the Roman Republic’s last years and about the rise and fall of Cleopatra, the two inextricably intertwined. My life is all the more richer for having read this book.

Full of life

Schiff, brings Cleopatra to life and gives her back her humanity. The book shows the different facets of Cleopatra’s life as mother, lover, survivor, and pharaoh.

Very captivating.

Where does Cleopatra rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

This is great because it is informative yet novel-like.

What did you like best about this story?

This story is mostly informative. It is mostly a defense for Cleopatra, but it tries to summarize everyone's point of view about her (including negative views). The author is mostly unbiased about Antony, Cleopatra and Caesar. She may be biased against Octavian, but she talks little about him.

What about Robin Miles’s performance did you like?

Enjoyable

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

Yes, of course. The Battle of Actium, the tale of Antony fishing and the final moments of Antony and Cleopatra.

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."