When I Walked Down The Streets, I

I Finally Returned To Iran In 1979, When I Got My Degree In English And American Literature, And Stayed For 18 Years In The Islamic Republic.

Every Great Work Of Art ... Is A Celebration, An Act Of Insubordination Against The Betrayals, Horrors And Infidelities Of Life.

Once We Know Of Atrocities We Cannot Remain Silent, And Knowledge Inevitably Leads To An Urge To Protect The Innocent.

Those In The West Who Dismiss The Repressiveness Of Laws Against Women In Countries Like Iran, No Matter How Benign Their Intentions, Present A Condescending View Not Just Of The Religion But Also Of Women Living In Muslim Majority Countries, As If The Desire For Choice And Happiness Is The Monopoly Of Women In The West.

What Dazzles Us In Stacy Schiff's Cleopatra Are Not The Alluring Mythologies About The Evasive Queen, But The Astonishing If Rare Historical Facts That Schiff Has Meticulously And Lovingly Excavated. Schiff Offers Not Just Cleopatra's Story But The Story Of An Amazing Era, One That Has Vanished But Still Affects Us, Questioning The Way We Look At Myth, History, And Ourselves.