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Cleopatra And Antony: Power, Love, And Politics In The Ancient World (2009)

by Diana Preston(Favorite Author)

3.76 of 5 Votes: 2

ISBN

0802717381 (ISBN13: 9780802717382)

languge

English

genre

History & Biography

publisher

Walker & Company

review 1: I'm not sure how you can make a book about Cleopatra and Anthony boring, but Diana Preston gave it the "college try."This book is pretty much a rehash of every blah book you've ever read or heard about that dealt in passing with Cleopatra, Anthony, Octavian, and Julius Caesar. It's nothing new, nothing revelatory, and nothing that interesting.Preston reassures us over and over about the great love that Anthony and Cleopatra shared, which they very well may. However, I'm going to need more than "because of their great love" and "omigod Anthony loved her" to get that point across. And to be honest, I'm not sure I that much care if they loved each other or not. They were political partners and they definitely had "relations," and it is those facts that changed history, not if... more they were carving "C+A" into every tree.Another big problem I had with this book is that for a book saying it's about Cleo and Tony, they didn't even meet until approximately half way through the book. I'm always suspicious of a relatively (350+) book about a big subject when the author doesn't get to the title until way into the book. I always wonder if the author didn't have enough to really write about what was the best title to sell the book. Given that Preston provides not a single footnote, I am in no way to judge her researching skills. The footnotes given are usually there to add salacious details to minor details--I started to hate them.The book drags. I hated reading this book. By page 200, I was slogging through it like it was a vat of maple syrup and my legs were made of waffles. I finished it because...well I had bought it and I really should finish it, right? I hate not finishing a book. It's just sitting out there...and you can't be done. Even in bad relationships, I need the closure of saying "no really, you're done"--I can't just stop calling. With a bad book, or at least a mediocre one, I need the closure of turning the last page, writing a review, and happily deleting the book from my e-reader.
review 2: This book was very well researched. It isn't riveting, but, definitely, intellectually stimulating. It reads a little dry, but I would recommend it to anyone with an interest in Egyptian or Roman history.There is an error in the book. The author states the Cleopatra did not have black African ancestry. However, new evidence has shown this to be false. The remains of her sister, Princess Arsinöe, have been identified. Studies of her skull, including reconstruction, show that she was of mixed ancestry including ancient Egyptian and black African.Also, I do not like the use of the word niggardly. I know that we can debate as to whether "niggardly" and "nigger" are etymologically related, but why bother? Controversies in the late 90's show, clearly, that the word is offensive to many people. If an American author uses that word, he/she does so knowing that it will offend some. The choice to use offensive language makes sense to me if it develops a character. In this case, the word stingy or some other synonym would have worked just fine. less

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