Cleopatra the Great: The woman behind the legend

Description

Cleopatra the Great tells the story of a turbulent time and the extraordinary woman at its centre. She was Greek by descent the last, and greatest, Egyptian pharaoh. But our understanding of her has been obscured by Roman propaganda, Shakespearean tragedy and Hollywood, with little attempt to tell her true story until now. In the first biography for over thirty years, Joann Fletcher draws on a wealth of overlooked detail and the latest research to reveal Cleopatra as she truly was, from her first meeting with Julius Caesar to her legendary death by snakebite. Bringing the ancient world to life, Cleopatra the Great is full of tantalising details about the Pharaoh s infamous banquets, her massive library, her goddess outfits, beauty regimes and hairstyles. Joann Fletcher discovers the real woman behind the myth.

Dr Joann Fletcher is an Honorary Research Fellow at the University of York, where she teaches Egpytian funerary archeology and mummification, and Consultant Egyptologist for Harrogate Museums and Arts. The author of seven books and numerous articles, Joann is a contributor to the BBC's History website and the Guardian's science section, makes regular television appearances, and lectures extensively worldwide.

'The biggest discovery since Howard Carter and Lord Carnarvon unearthed Tutankhamun in 1922' -- The Sunday Times on Joann Fletcher's discovery of Nefertiti's remains