"How They Croaked" Cleopatra

Many people believe Cleopatra, the famed Egyptian queen, to have died from a snakebite to the chest as Shakespeare wrote it in Antony and Cleopatra. That is not the case. Georgia Bragg's book, How They Croaked, shows that Cleopatra did not die from a snakebite to the chest, but a poisoned hairpin prick to the arm! Georgia Bragg tells how it happened, why it happened, and still keeps a somewhat casual attitude as she gives you all of the details and background stories.

Cleopatra had fallen in love with Mark Antony, and they were secretly married. Years after the Romans, led by Octavian, waged war on them. Antony and Cleopatra decided to split up to survive, and Cleopatra hurried home to gather all of her valuable treasures and put them in a mausoleum in the royal cemetery. She then took her hairdresser and her lady-in-waiting and locked all of them and herself in the mausoleum with enough kindling to burn it to the ground if needed. Antony got word that Cleopatra was dead, so he stabbed himself in the stomach, but soon after he got word that Cleopatra was not dead. So he went to Cleopatra and he died in her arms. After that Cleopatra was captured and put on "palace arrest." She sent a request to be buried next to Antony, and by the time the soldiers got there she and her two maids were dead with no proof but two pinpricks from a poisoned hairpin.

Throughout the telling of the death of the two lovers, Bragg keeps an upbeat attitude. She keeps the reader interested by adding her own fun facts at the end of an article, and she uses a more casual wording. For example, when Bragg describes Cleopatra she uses words like, "glitzy," and "bling." So the reader stays interested throughout the entire book and not just one article.

In conclusion, Georgia Bragg's book How They Croaked gives some very interesting facts about how a famous person in history died. Bragg's writing style keeps the reader interested by inserting fun facts and by keeping the mood upbeat and somewhat casual. By doing this, the book becomes a more fun read than expected.