This tells the story of Cleopatra. It is a very basic book. It deals with the facts that we already know. Not the book I was expecting

Thank you Net Galley for providing me with a free copy of Cleopatra in exchange for a honest review.

A perfect non fiction read, about the life of the famous queen of Egypt Cleopatra. Enriched with details, beautiful flow and as informative as possible this is an absolute must read for anyone interested in this famous historical figure.

I love books on Cleopatra but this book offered a new history on this strong queen.
It casts new lights in the Queen we live s as bd her rein.
Highly recommend. A throughly enjoyable read.

Absolutely fascinating. Cleopatra is one of my favourite historical figures, so seeing another perspective of her was great. Would definitely read more from this author.

I loved the way this book read like a biography rather than a straight history book. Though the author does give opinions, commentary, and historical context for many of the events in the book, the literary writing style was really captivating. It was also a good mix of familiar, but not too familiar. Going into the book, I knew most of the Cleopatra story, but was still surprised by how many things I knew that weren't the full story. If you like biographies with literary writing, definitely pick this up.

I like the author's views of Cleopatra movies and writings, pointing out all the silly elements put only to retain the seductress image. Of course, she was no saint, but she deserves to be remembered as a remarkable lady.

I have been very interested in the life of Cleopatra, and was excited to find this exploration of her life and history.

To call this book a reinterpretation of Cleopatra, I feel, does this a disservice. It is an in depth, and very straight forward examination of the actual documentation we have of Cleopatra's life. It is highly focused in dismantling the fictionalized depictions of Cleopatra that have been published ever since her death.

There is no fictionalizing of scenes or meetings, and in fact, Prose goes out of her way to explain the discrepancies between documentation of Cleopatra's time and the historical texts created years and years after her death.

It was fascinating to read about all the things beyond the seductive Queen that Hollywood has portrayed for decades. And I learned so many new things. And I also really appreciated how Prose didn't try and put a more modern thought process into Cleopatra's motivations and plans.

My thanks to NetGalley and Yale University Press for this ARC.

I wanted to enjoy this book, but found it did nothing for me.

The book regurgitates well-known information and historic portrayals of the ancient queen and fails to present this information in a way that's novel or meaningful.

It's not that the book didn't have solid information; it's more that the book itself was simply unnecessary.

Thanks: Received from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book provides a concise yet comprehensive exploration of Cleopatra's life, but paradoxically, it left me feeling more uncertain about her true essence than ever before.

In this thought-provoking read, Francine Prose skillfully challenges the pervasive myths and misrepresentations surrounding Cleopatra. However, as I delved into the historical accounts presented, I couldn't help but question the authenticity of every piece of information we have about this enigmatic Egyptian leader. Nadia Wassef's thought-provoking work, "Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller," heightened my awareness of the inherent biases in the portrayal of Egyptian history, predominantly influenced by colonizers. While Prose does address instances of Orientalism, it's important to acknowledge that her perspective, as a Western feminist, also comes with its own limitations.

All in all, this book offers a valuable overview of Cleopatra as a historical figure who wielded power and ruled Egypt effectively for decades. However, it serves as a reminder that the complexities and nuances of her life and reign might forever remain elusive, obscured by layers of historical interpretation and cultural bias.

This is a simple story about Cleopatra's life. It only talks about what ancient sources say without guessing or making things up. Francine Prose's writing was amazing and imaginative. You might think this is a made-up story, but it's not. It was hard to understand the history of the Ptolemies before Cleopatra because all the men were named Ptolemy. This is not the book's fault. This book was not arranged in the best order, but I still learned a lot about history.

This was a very brief biography of Cleopatra. The author tried to reinterpret her life. However, there is nothing new. It has already been done before by the excellent biographer Stacy Schiff. Still, it was a very easy and entertaining read!

The premise sounds interesting, but the execution is not to my taste. Thank you for sending me this e-ARC.

This is quick read that covers a lot of ground on the subject of Cleopatra, but upon finishing it, I had the sense that I knew less about the Egyptian leader than ever.

Francine Prose argues that Cleopatra has been the subject of many myths and mischaracterizations. And even as this book presents historical accounts, I found myself questioning every piece of information we have about her. After reading Shelf Life: Chronicles of a Cairo Bookseller by Nadia Wassef, I’m hyper aware of how Egyptian history has been primarily told by colonizers. And while Prose calls out instances of Orientialism, her work is written from the perspective of a Western feminist, which has its limitations.

Overall, this is a good overview of Cleopatra as a historical figure who successfully ruled Egypt for decades.

I received a digital advance reader copy of this book from NetGalley and Yale University Press in exchange for an honest review. I also listened to the audiobook.

The life and death of Cleopatra made her legendary.

The book "Cleopatra" reminded me why the woman behind myth and history all tangled together is so fascinating. The problem is that her story was told by men, her enemies, so how can we know what was true and what wasn't? Well, you can't dismiss the facts that Cleopatra was a pharaoh, she ruled Egypt and did anything she could to protect her kingdom and her children. She also had a love affair with Julius Caesar and Mark Anthony. These were powerful man that could help her, but unfortunately her relationships with them were her undoing. As the heir of Caesar, Octavian couldn't let the son of Cleopatra and Caesar roam free as a prince of Egypt, could he? He couldn't let Mark Anthony and Cleopatra rule independently from Rome, could he?

The author seemed to be very annoyed that nobody recognises what a great ruler Cleopatra was, what a great administrator and she even learned Egyptian (the first ruler from her dynasty who did it). Also she loved her children. That's all very well, but if that was all Cleopatra did in her life, not many people would enjoy reading about her. Or writing about her, or painting pictures of her... or making movies about her. The author is very critical of movies, book and paintings about Cleopatra. For her it is all exaggeration, sexualisation and cheap entertainment. After a while I was tired of the author criticising everything. The legend of Cleopatra inspired people and helped her to be remembered. Some of the paintings of her are beautiful pieces of art, even if the painter had no idea about Egyptian customs, how people dressed in her times and showed her half-naked. So, three stars.

I received "Cleopatra" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

Beyond a few brief history classes in secondary school, and what I’ve gleaned from movies (always to be taken with a pinch of salt) I knew very little about Cleopatra. This book was hugely informative and came with a lot of facts, which i loved! I love how the author questioned in detail the popular representations of Cleopatra’s character and standing and gave life to this well-known figure.

Cleopatra was so informative and well written! I will never see Cleopatra the historical Egyptian queen ever again, her legacy still impacts us today!

Definitely more on the academic side but interesting! I found myself skimming through some of the information but enjoyed the parts where the author explored how Cleopatra was viewed in various writings.

I love Cleopatra. My fascination began when I was in the 5th grade and had to choose a character to read about and present to my class. I chose Cleopatra and have been into her since. I am 40 now and I've read a lot about her- both fiction and non-fiction over the years. While this book was written and researched well, I just felt like I was rereading articles that I've already seen time and time again. I would only recommend this to someone who knows next to nothing about Cleopatra, but even then, I have read better and more interesting accounts. I respect Francine Prose and do love her writing, this just wasn't my favorite, personally.

This book is a more factual approach to the other types of publications we've been seeing in recent times (Jennifer Saint, Madeline MIller etc.)
My boyfriend is a big fan of the Stephen Fry mythos trilogy and I think I would be recommending this to him moreso than myself.

Cleopatra. What a character of history. We've personified her as so many different avenues. This was a nice clip of those stereotypes.