CLEOPATRAS (PB)

Cleopatra: lover, seductress and Egypt's greatest queen, who captivated Julius Caesar and Marc Antony and died in a blaze of glory with an asp clasped to her breast. But the real-life story of the historical Cleopatra VII is even more compelling. She was the last of seven Cleopatras who ruled Egypt before it was subsumed into the Roman Empire. Each of them wielded absolute power. Their ruthless, single-minded focus on dominance - generation after generation - resulted in extraordinary acts of betrayal, violence and murder in the most malfunctional dynasty in history.