Of all the beguiling, fascinating and enduring characters from history, Cleopatra is perhaps the most captivating. Her beauty, cunning and power are legendary – but what do we actually know for sure about Egypt’s last Pharaoh, arguably the most famous woman in history? And what of the Pharaohs who preceded her? What was it like to be a Pharaoh in Ancient Egypt, and why was dying such a big part of life? The mysteries unravel from page 26.
Life and death are, of course, what history is all about and we’ve plenty of both to kick off the New Year – thankfully more of the former than the latter! Our top ten survival stories (p70) are testament to the lust for life that keeps us going, while Charles Darwin, on his voyages of discovery aboard the Beagle (p58), began to see life itself in a whole new light.
Cleopatra lived closer to the present day than to the time when the Great Pyramid of Giza was built
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On the subject of sea travel, be sure not to miss the story of the Longitude problem (p72), which saw a self-taught clockmaker solve a puzzle that had baffled humankind for millennia, strengthening Britannia’s command over the waves along the way. And if that’s not enough, we have amazing tales from the Dark Ages (p65) and World War II (p52), plus compelling photos of Native Americans (p46).