Cleopatra
A Life
Paperback, 432 pages, Little Brown & Co, List Price: $16.99 | purchase
Other editions available for purchase:
Book Summary
Stacy Schiff separates fact from fiction to reconstruct the life of Cleopatra, revealing her as a complex woman and shrewd monarch whose life and death reshaped the ancient world.
Awards and Recognition
27 weeks on NPR Paperback Nonfiction Bestseller List
Genres:
This book is about:
- 332-30 B.C,
- Egypt,
- d. 30 B.C,
- Queen of Egypt,
- Cleopatra,
- Queens,
- Kings and rulers,
- History,
- Biography
NPR stories about Cleopatra
New In Paperback
History, With Heart: Cleopatra Reimagined, First Family Love Letters, All The President's Spies
In Cleopatra: A Life, Stacy Schiff argues that the Egyptian queen of literature, legend and Hollywood is largely inaccurate. First of all, Cleopatra was Greek, not Egyptian, and a commanding woman versed in politics, diplomacy and governance, with a fortune superior to the men in her circle. Schiff's great challenge as a biographer is to create a narrative that reveals the real Cleopatra and demonstrates why history should think of her as a canny political strategist and... more
Best Books Of 2010
Best Books Of Winter: Alan Cheuse Makes His List
December 15, 2010 Literary Santa delivers his list of favorite fiction, nonfiction and poetry — a box of the best books from 2010 that he'd like to bring to your house on a snowy morning.
How History And Hollywood Got 'Cleopatra' Wrong
November 1, 2010 The Egyptian queen is most often remembered as a beautiful seductress. But in Cleopatra: A Life, biographer Stacy Schiff explains how the well-educated, enormously wealthy, powerful female pharaoh was actually a canny political strategist and tough negotiator.

Comments
Please keep your community civil. All comments must follow the NPR.org Community rules and terms of use. See also the Community FAQ.
NPR reserves the right to read on the air and/or publish on its website or in any medium now known or unknown the e-mails and letters that we receive. We may edit them for clarity or brevity and identify authors by name and location. For additional information, please consult our Terms of Use.