Cleopatra by Stacy Schiff was especially interesting to read while history was recently being made in Egypt. Schiff sifts through centuries of conflicting accounts to extract the lady from the legend. What emerges is an epic biography of a woman who was more sage than seductress; “formidable, spirited, disciplined and resourceful” and an era when women enjoyed legal autonomy over 2,000 years before “women’s lib” entered our vernacular.
-NK

Cleopatra by Stacy Shiff is currently #5 on the New York Times list for best-selling nonfiction. Schiff's 1999 book, Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) won the Pulitzer Prize in 2000.