The story we know comes mainly from the early first century roman writers plutarch and dio. Stacy schiff penetrates an ancient thicket of personalities and. Michelangelo, tiepolo, and elizabeth taylor put a face to her name. My favorite is i cleopatra which was published in the seventies and i really look to that book as being the gold standard of all things cleopatra. Cleopatra schiff litlovers book club recommendations. Stacy madeleine schiff is an american former editor, essayist, and author of five biographies. That schiff s book is the basis of a new paul greengrass film. The author paints a vivid portrait of the end of the hellenistic period. Franklin, france, and the birth of america, winner of the george washington book prize and the ambassador book award. With wit, clarity, and grace, schiff has done what only the best writers can do. Along the way, cleopatra s supple personality and the drama of her circumstances have been lost.
A life by pulitzeraward winning author stacy schiff. She has received fellowships from the guggenheim foundation and the national endowment for the humanities, and was a directors fellow at the center for scholars and writers at the new york public library. Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read the witches. A life, by stacy schiff, captures the queen the new. Cleopatra s origin, her education, financial situation as well as the people she met. Stacy schiff gives us a cinematic portrait of cleopatra that is far more.
Her palace shimmered with onyx, garnets, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. A life i found this book to be good but not exceptional. Franklin, france, and the birth of america, winner of the george washington book prize, the ambassador award in american studies, and the gilbert chinard prize of the institut francais damerique. Now in paperback history in the hands of stacy schiff is invariably full of life, light, shadow, surprise, clarity of insight, and so it is again and then some in her latest. Stacy schiff s book helps to see this woman in a completely different light. Schiff has received fellowships from the guggenheim foundation, the national endowment for the humanities. Interview with stacy schiff, author of cleopatra sfgate. The cleopatra of pop culture is very different from the cleopatra of history, who we dont actually know that much about.
Vladimir nabokov, which won the 2000 pulitzer prize for biography. Stacy schiff, author official website now available cleopatra. Written by stacy schiff, audiobook narrated by robin miles. A life by stacy schiff biography books the guardian. It provided me with better information than that from wikipedia.
Stacy schiff brings to life one of the most intriguing women in the history of the world. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the contours of the ancient world. Cleopatra by schiff stacy, signed abebooks passion for books. Schiff has also written biographies of french aviator and author of the little prince.
Download for offline reading, highlight, bookmark or take notes while you read cleopatra. Stacy schiff is an american pulitzer prize winning author and historian, as well as a guest columnist for the new york times. The wall street journals critic wrote, stacy schiff does a rare thing. Rick riordan declared cleopatra impossible to put down. Stacy schiff is the author of a great improvisation and vera mrs. Schiff reminds us that cleopatra and her family were not related to the egyptian pharaohs but descended from ptolemy, a macedonian general with alexander the great. Schiff has received fellowships from the guggenheim foundation, the national endowment for the. Famous long before she was notorious, cleopatra has gone down in history for all the wrong reasons. Born into the ptolemaic dynasty that ruled egypt, cleopatra was of macedonia greek origin at a time of much political and geographic change. Cleopatra by stacy schiff little, brown and company.
The cleopatra most of us know is a fictional creation. Stacy schiff mines ancient sources to find the real cleopatra. Cleopatra by stacy schiff, read by robin miles audiobook excerpt. Cleopatra is buried under centuries of lies, and stacy schiff calls on her considerable powers to bring her back to life for us. The pulitzer prizewinning biographer brings to life the most intriguing woman in the history of the world. Cleopatra book tulsa citycounty library bibliocommons. Schiff, born in adams, massachusetts, is a graduate of phillips academy andover preparatory school, and earned her b. A life by stacy schiff and a great selection of related books, art and collectibles available now at. Part of that is that i have read so many books on cleopatra. Ideally, as stacy schiff observes in her magnificent recreation of both an extraordinary woman, and her times, our sense of cleopatra would be.
According to author stacy schiff, thats like reading a history of twentiethcentury america written by chairman mao. In short, our image of cleopatra is the joint creation of roman propagandists and hollywood directors. Stacy schiff books list of books by author stacy schiff. These book discussion questions are highly detailed and will ruin plot points, if you have not read the book. Schiff s primary point is that if the name is indelible, the image is blurry. Forget what youve heard about her being a seductress ruled by her own desires. The author provides a bit of humor when relaying facts about the period. In her biography of cleopatra, schiff takes the reader along a winding adventure into the world before the common era, where actions to unite came at the cost of land and life, both bloody endeavours. Few writers combine as she does superb scholarship and an exceptional gift for language with amazing reach and agility of mind. One of the new york times 10 best books of 2010 her palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Cleopatra s palace shimmered with onyx and gold but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. The pulitzer prizewinning author stacy schiff attempts to paint a more complete picture in her new book, cleopatra. Now, the massachusetts native is out with a history of a subject closer to home.
Above all else, cleopatra was a shrewd strategist and an ingenious negotiator. Though her life spanned fewer than forty years, it reshaped the. Digital rights management drm the publisher has supplied this book in encrypted form, which means that you need to install free software in order to unlock and read it. A life is speculative, borderline revisionist history. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 302 pages and is available in hardcover format. While still for the most part an interpretation, her book draws a portrait of cleopatra that youve never seen before. After a dense first few chapters, cleopatra becomes an absorbing look at a woman remembered more often for the things that she wasnt than for the things that she was. Now in paperback history in the hands of stacy schiff is invariably full of life, light, shadow, surprise, clarity of insight, and so it is again and then some in her latest work, the witches. Cleopatra was an highly intelligent, resourceful woman who received the finest education available in her day. In a masterly return to the classical sources, stacy schiff here boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death ushered in a new world order. This book is no mere biography of cleopatra s life. Stacy schiff boldly separates fact from fiction to rescue the magnetic queen whose death. October 26, 2015 pulitizer prizewinning author stacy schiff s last book was a bestseller about cleopatra.
Her palace shimmered with onyx and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. So far, i am very disappointed in this bookby a pulitzer prize winning author. There has already been one scholarly biography this year by duane roller, now here is stacy schiff, the author of a terrific pulitzerprize. Cleopatra had a child with caesar and after his murder three more with his. Also this book is difficult to get intoat least at. I picked up this book because it was getting a lot of buzz on various history and reading sites for being a lucid, easytoread, modern biography of cleopatra. In a masterly return to the classical sources, stacy schiff here boldly. Stacy schiff does a good job explaining possible motives and actions that occurred by drawing from what we know and what people like plutarch knew. Buy cleopatra 1st virgin edition by stacy schiff isbn. Stacy schiff knows a bit about traveling back in time to bring people to life. Stacy schiff her palace shimmered with onyx, garnet, and gold, but was richer still in political and sexual intrigue. Stacy madeleine schiff born october 26, 1961 is an american nonfiction author residing in new york. Cleopatra was queen of a large, rich, highly sophisticated country for more than 20 years, yet almost everything we know about her comes from a legend created by her most deadly enemy, the roman emperor augustus.
942 485 379 1510 1497 1037 547 441 765 1418 489 466 1474 1512 448 774 550 985 408 1095 635 813 1274 309 721 890 643 1363 233 943 1367 898 67 436 810 216