I’m constantly surprised by the quality of books coming out lately. Cleopatra: A Life by Stacy Schiff, is a meticulously researched and exciting biography about one of the most mysterious woman in history. Cleo, if I may be so bold, has fascinated and baffled historians for centuries. There has been a lot of guess work and a lot of mythology about Cleopatra. Her life was short less than 40 years, but her influence in her day was great and her reputation in history is mythological. Who better to sort things out than one on the finest biographers writing? And what a job she does. Schiff is magnificent here. She has excavated rare historical facts and has infused them with a particular brand of erudition not often found in modern biographers. Much of historical biography today is often interpreted through a filter of modern day sentiment and ideas. What British historian Herbert Butterfield called, “The Whig Interpretation of History.”
Such a method warps the past in terms of the present. Cleopatra in particular is buried under centuries of lies and it takes someone of Schiff’s caliber to set things straight. In this biography Cleopatra becomes historically real as well as the characters that surrounded her. What emerges is a picture of Cleopatra who combined sexual intrigue with political astuteness to influence her lavish court as well as the era in which she lived. Her subtly of personality and her relationship with Antony helped forge an empire that would ultimately lead to her doom. Cleopatra: A Life may also be read as a general history of the era__an added bonus from a fine writer. It’s refreshing to see a biographer of an ancient figure return to the classical sources. Highly recommended.
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