Alexander the Great and Cleopatra may be two of the best-known figures from the ancient world, but the Egyptian era bookended by their lives-the Ptolemaic Period (332-30 BC)-is little known. In The Last Dynasty, New York Times best-selling author Toby Wilkinson unravels the incredible story of this turbulent era. Macedonian in origin and Greek-speaking, the Ptolemies presided over the final flourishing of pharaonic civilization. Wilkinson describes how they founded new cities, including Alexandria, their great seaside residence and commercial capital; mined gold in the furthest reaches of Nubia; built spectacular new temples that are among the foremost architectural wonders of the Nile Valley; and created a dazzling culture that produced astonishing works of sculpture, architecture, and literature. As Wilkinson makes clear, the Ptolemaic Period was a time when ancient Egypt turned its gaze westward-in the process becoming the unwitting handmaid to the inexorable rise of Rome and the consequent loss of Egyptian independence.

Toby Wilkinson is the New York Times best-selling author of The Rise and Fall of Ancient Egypt, A World Beneath the Sands, and Tutankhamun's Trumpet. He is a fellow of Clare College, University of Cambridge, and lives in England.