Cleopatra VII was more than the last Macedonian Queen of Egypt. She was a femme fatale of epic proportion, ensnaring the two mightiest Romans of her time, Julius Caesar and Mark Antony, with her famed beauty and intelligence. The story of Cleopatra reads like a modern thriller. From her murderous family, who were not averse to killing parents, siblings, and their own children, to the civil wars between Pompey, Caesar, Octavian Augustus, Brutus, and Mark Antony, the tale of this last queen of Egypt is filled with high drama, tension and, ultimately, tragedy. It is a story which, once started, is almost impossible to put down. This is possibly master storyteller Jacob Abbott’s finest book.