Caesar And Cleopatra [Hardcover]

George Bernard Shaw (Author), 1stWorld Library (Editor)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 1, 2005

Purchase one of 1st World Library's Classic Books and help support our free internet library of downloadable eBooks. Visit us online at www.1stWorldLibrary.ORG - - An October night on the Syrian border of Egypt towards the end of the XXXIII Dynasty, in the year 706 by Roman computation, afterwards reckoned by Christian computation as 48 B.C. A great radiance of silver fire, the dawn of a moonlit night, is rising in the east. The stars and the cloudless sky are our own contemporaries, nineteen and a half centuries younger than we know them; but you would not guess that from their appearance. Below them are two notable drawbacks of civilization: a palace, and soldiers. The palace, an old, low, Syrian building of whitened mud, is not so ugly as Buckingham Palace; and the officers in the courtyard are more highly civilized than modern English officers: for example, they do not dig up the corpses of their dead enemies and mutilate them, as we dug up Cromwell and the Mahdi. They are in two groups: one intent on the gambling of their captain Belzanor, a warrior of fifty, who, with his spear on the ground beside his knee, is stooping to throw dice with a sly-looking young Persian recruit; the other gathered about a guardsman who has just finished telling a naughty story (still current in English barracks) at which they are laughing uproariously. They are about a dozen in number, all highly aristocratic young Egyptian guardsmen, handsomely equipped with weapons and armor, very unEnglish in point of not being ashamed of and uncomfortable in their profess-sional dress; on the contrary, rather ostentatiously and arrogantly warlike, as valuing themselves on their military caste.

Editorial Reviews

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--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

George Bernard Shaw (1856–1950), one of the most prolific writers of the modern theater, was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature in 1925. --This text refers to the Mass Market Paperback edition.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 180 pages
• Publisher: 1st World Library - Literary Society (July 1, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1421807394
• ISBN-13: 978-1421807393
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A high-stakes game of chess!, February 5, 2010

By 

Kylie Edwards (North America) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar And Cleopatra (Paperback)

I can't resist any chance I can get to peek into the mind of a genius, and Shaw was a true genius. This story was delightful and brilliant.

This was great. Instead of a love affair, we get a high-stakes game of chess with Cleopatra making calculated moves to secure the throne of Egypt, but her opponent, Caesar, excels at the game as well. Shrewd takes on Wise in this excellent battle of wits, giving us a refreshingly original story that portrays Cleopatra as a crafty politician seeking power rather than a romantic siren interested in an affair of the heart.

This story was smart and funny. I loved it and wanted more when it was over. I'll have to buy another one of his books. I just love his style.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Reading Shaw's works are a genuine treat..., February 7, 2010

By 

Marie Martin - See all my reviews

This review is from: Caesar And Cleopatra (Paperback)

This is a wonderful, and much more likely, interpretation of Cleopatra's romantic involvement with Caesar. Most writers are tempted to turn it into a great love affair, but Shaw reveals a clever and ambitious Cleopatra whose reasons for sinking her claws into Caesar are entirely political. As much as I'm a sucker for a good romance, I found this tale of sly and loveless manipulation to be much more intriguing.
This story takes place when Caesar has occupied Egypt. Cleopatra wants to steal the throne out from under her brother and realizes that Caesar has the power to give it to her. The lengths she goes to in order to gain Caesar's favor or even stand in his presence are zany. She even goes so far as to roll herself up in a carpet that's to be delivered to him.

Shaw is my favorite of the Victorian playwrights. His works were revolutionary in many ways. Use of humor was rare and exceptional for playwrights during that era, but Shaw was not afraid to make audiences laugh. He also tackled serious moral, political, and social issues in his plays at a time when sappy dramas were all the rage. He was truly bold and innovative and greatly contributed to dramatic art. He had an amazing gift, the ability to make people think while simultaneously making them laugh.

Reading Shaw's works are a genuine treat. All of his plays are fabulous. His characters are memorable, and his humor is brilliant.
This is a wonderful book, charming, significant, and insightful. I can't recommend it enough.

4 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Caesar and Cleopatra, November 17, 2008

By 

Li Zhang (Hartford, CT) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Caesar and Cleopatra (mobi) (Kindle Edition)

Caesar and Cleopatra by George Bernard Shaw. Published by MobileReference (mobi).

This is a fine edition of the delightful Shaw play. Shaw's Caesar is a man of self-doubt and good humor, a vivid counterpoint to the haughty, aristocratic Caesar of Shakespeare.