Cleopatra - A Biography [Hardcover]

Michael Grant (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: June 2004

Cleopatra, Queen of Egypt, was also a scholar, murderer, lover of Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony and one of the most remarkable women in history. The distinguished historian and classicist Michael Grant confirms that her reputation as a temptress was well-founded. However, by unravelling the sources behind the tangle of myth, gossip and invention he shows that the popular image of a wayward woman opting for a life of sensuous luxury and neglecting her affairs of state is far from the truth. A brilliant linguist and the first of her Greek-speaking dynasty who learned Egyptian, she was reputed to be the author of treatises on agriculture, make-up and alchemy. Her love affairs were carefully calculated to further her plans to restore her empire to its former greatness and she was a ruthless foe to all who stood in her way. But dead on her golden couch in her palace at Alexandria her life seemed to have ended in failure; her dreams of empire shattered; her lover Mark Antony a suicide himself and she a prisoner of her conqueror Octavian. An unforgettable portrait of an extraordinary queen and her stormy life.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Michael Grant was formerly a Fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge, Professor of Humanity at Edinburgh University, the first Vice Chancellor of the Queen's University, Belfast, and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Khartoum. He is Doctor of Letters at Cambridge and Honorary Doctor of Letters and Laws at Dublin and Belfast respectively. He has also been President of the Classical Association of England, the Virgil Society and the Royal Numismatic Society. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From AudioFile

This historic account of the life of Cleopatra brings together the politics, culture and passion of an ancient era that links Greek, Roman and Egyptian history. Nelson Runger provides a clear, straightforward narration, which chronicles complicated and chaotic annals from the past. His appealing voice imparts a perceptible portrayal of Cleopatra herself. Occasionally, this unabridged recounting becomes prolonged and tedious, but Runger's adept oration keeps the listener pursuing the facts to the concluding scene--Cleopatra's death and the dispersal of her family and dominion. B.J.L. (c)AudioFile, Portland, Maine --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 344 pages
• Publisher: Booksales (June 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0785818286
• ISBN-13: 978-0785818281
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.4 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,448 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #18 in Books > 4-for-3 Books > Biographies & Memoirs > Leaders & Notable People > Presidents & Heads of State

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

22 of 22 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Probably the best biography on Cleo, October 18, 2002

By 

Scott Chamberlain "Historian and archaeologist" (Minneapolis, MN United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cleopatra (Paperback)

Cleopatra is a fascinating figure... renowned as a patron of arts and learning, a gifted linguist, and a canny politicians, she is too often remembered as a sex kitten. Grant cuts thru the myths, pro- and anti propaganda to deliver what is probably the best biography on Cleopatra. Writen by one of the marquee lights of classical history, the book is written in academic style, although for the most part it is highly readable. To be honest, I found the first preliminary chapters to be somewhat slow going, but once the story begins it takes off like a grand soap opera. Not as splashy as some other works on the great queen, this is *the* place to go for a detailed, comprehensive look at Cleopatra.

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Ancient spin meisters, February 17, 2004

By 

Kris (Oxnard, CA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Cleopatra (Hardcover)

I'm not a classicist as some of the other reviewers on this site appear to be, but as a layperson I can say that this book was pretty interesting. There are some boring parts, as others noted, but what biography does not have some boring parts? Here's what I found especially interesting:

Grant gives readers a good idea about how most of the chronicles he consulted were written from one perspective or another and thus tended to be sentimentally biased in one direction or another. Grant points out significantly that as "Westerners" we have clung most closely to the "Occidental" version of matters, rather than anything leaning toward the other side, the "Orient." He points out consistently how ancient writers who disliked Cleopatra changed facts around to disparage her, while the opposite was true of those who liked her.

The point being, it seems, that you have to take your history with a grain of salt (just as we do the news from the various modern media). Some reviewers seem to feel that Grant himself is slightly biased, in Cleopatra's favor, but as long as we're aware of it, we can perhaps discern the bias and read other viewpoints to get a well-rounded sense of what actually occurred.

The other interesting point was how many people, mostly men presumably, died during these ancient wars. And how little their deaths accounted for anything. In other words, life was a lot cheaper then than today. In Cleopatra's time, only the top dogs had the sense of individual rights that most of us have today. Is that progress?

Grant's book, of course, is thoroughly documented for those wishing to do further investigation.

Diximus.

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The book that started it all..., January 13, 2009

By 

Kristine Lee "Literally Bookish" (San Jose, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Cleopatra - A Biography (Hardcover)

for me anyway. I received this book as part of a collection put together on women in history. I had never read much on Cleopatra, which is surprising because since childhood I have read extensively on Ancient Greece and Egypt, but never more than touched on the subject of Cleopatra, so my prior knowledge of her was the legend, ie. the seduction of Julius Caesar, a life of sumptuous life and sensuous extravagance, and eventual suicide.

Mr. Grant's research takes us through what little we know of her as a person, and blends that neatly together with a comprehensive and detailed analysis of the political, religious and social conditions of that time. Some of his suppositions are nothing short of tantalizing. Whether you've read it all or are looking to find a definitive book on Cleopatra, this is the one!

Since reading this book, I have picked up many others on Cleopatra; unfortunately the information is scant. This book has by far been the most satisfying read yet.