Cleopatra-A Life by Stacy Schiff
Confession: I'm a Cleopatra nerd. So this might not be the most unbaised review ever. But I simply adored this book. Stacy Schiff does a great job of taking the base facts that could be gathered about the city of Alexandria, the ruling families of Egypt, Roman and various other locales and put together something that is gripping with being overly soap opera like. She uses equal amounts skills, research and various historical accounts to put the life, goals and repurcussions of Cleopatra--and by default Mark Anthony and Julius Caesar--into a complex context with becoming dry or boring.
If there is one account of this amazing, overly romantized, wildly political and legendary life to read then this is the one. It takes someone who is beyond the pale and gives you motivation, inspiration and a sense of depth beyond the various detractors and lovers. I cannot recommend any book higher in recent history
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