Cleopatra's Palace:: In Search of a Legend

Launching Discovery Books, a joint venture of Random House and the Discovery Channel, this imaginative biography of Cleopatra is a queer blend of substance and sentimentality. Prompted by deep-sea explorer Franck Goddio's recent discovery of Cleopatra's lost island, Antirhodos, the book chronicles Cleopatra's life--from her childhood education to her affairs with Julius Caesar and Mark Antony to her eventual suicide--through a splashy mix of history, images of artifacts and famous paintings, undersea photography and melodramatic writing. The book's most interesting parts may well be its abundant sidebars and boxes, which provide mini-profiles of Egyptian and Roman rulers, gods and historical events. The last chapter, ""Discovery,"" briefly delineates the gradual erosion of Alexandria's remarkable palaces and enumerates explorers' subsequent attempts to recover the lost riches. The author recounts the work of Goddio's team, its reliance on innovative technology and the significance of its findings, but doesn't capture the heady excitement of the mission. As pleasing as this book will be to those unfamiliar with Cleopatra's story, readers interested in Goddio's groundbreaking work should wait for the TV documentary. (Mar.) FYI: The documentary Cleopatra's Palace will air on the Discovery Channel on March 14.