AUDIO

The Woman Who Would Be King: Hatshepsut's Rise to Power in Ancient Egypt

by Kara Cooney
9 CDs. library ed. unabridged. 10½ hrs. Books on Tape. 2014. ISBN 9780804128360. $45; digital download. HIST
COPY ISBN
In her first book, Cooney (Egyptian art and architecture, UCLA) shines a light on Hatshepsut, who was born into privilege in ancient Egypt; her father usurped the throne and her mother had ties with the previous ruling family. When Hatshepsut failed to produce a male heir, she cross-dressed in order to ascend to the rank of pharaoh to reign with Thutmose III, who was still in infancy. She reigned during one of Egypt's most productive building periods and was the country's second documented female pharaoh, yet most of her monuments were destroyed within a few decades of her death. Cooney, who capably reads her own work, has constructed a lively narrative using the artifacts that remain. The book offers a fascinating account of one powerful woman's rise and fall.
VERDICT Highly recommended for listeners who are interested in ancient history, women's studies, and politics. ["Cooney does a fantastic job of breathing new life into her subject and showing the woman who dared to keep herself and her nephew… on the throne," read the starred review of the Crown hc, LJ 10/15/14.]
Reviewed by Pam Kingsbury, Univ. of North Alabama, Florence , Feb 15, 2015
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