Cleopatra

Cleopatra is a history and biography book written by Jacob Abbott and originally published in 1851. It focuses on the figure of the ruler Cleopatra and the cultures of ancient Greece and Egypt.

The book tells the story of Cleopatra and the Ptolemaic dynasty from Greece that ruled Egypt for several centuries. It not only details the figure of the queen, but of the whole society of the time.

Cleopatra is the last Greek queen in Egypt and was very famous and influential, in addition to her intelligence and beauty, due to her relationship with two powerful characters of the Roman Empire: Julius Caesar and Mark Antony.

Abbott makes a very interesting description of Egypt and its geography and culture and offers a brief overview of the historical figure of Cleopatra, so it is ideal to start in her figure and expand in case you are interested in another more comprehensive work.

"The story of Cleopatra is a story of crime. It is a narrative of the course and the consequences of unlawful love. In her strange and romantic history we see this passion portrayed with the most complete and graphic fidelity in all its influences and effects; its uncontrollable impulses, its intoxicating joys, its reckless and mad career, and the dreadful remorse and ultimate despair and ruin in which it always and inevitably ends..."