I've confused family and friends on opposite sides of the ocean by taking a break from vacations to seek out an old stone tower. I've been fascinated by Cleopatra’s Needles ever since I first learned about them as a child. I've wanted someone to write a modern book about their histories and journeys for years. I'm thrilled that Bob Brier has done such an excellent job at the task.

Cleopatra’s Needles: The Lost Obelisks of Egypt, by Bob Brier, Phd, narrated by Christopher Douyard

Thank you NetGalley and Tantor Audio for sending this advance copy book for review consideration. This review expresses my own personal opinion. I have not been asked to post it by the author, their publishing company or anyone connected with the book or author.


Since the days of the pharaohs and the most widely known reign of Cleopatra, the world has been fascinated by the obelisks of ancient Egypt, at times boarding on mania. Roman Popes, emperors, and others have all been enamored with these strange artifacts. Some believe the obelisks represent eternity and immortality.

Dr. Brier is a noted egyptologist and in his work details the infatuation with these objects and how they have been shipped to places like Italy, Britain, France, and the United States. The Romans moved more than a dozen, unheralded feats that to this day still have not be figured out, they left no records. The book moves you through time with examples like Roman Emperor Caligula who moved one from Alexandria, Egypt to Rome to honor Julius Caesar, the Vatican’s movement of one in 1586, and from 1831 to 1881 three were moved to new locations, one being to New York City’s Central Park in 1881. It stands as the oldest outdoor monument in New York City, one that I have ran by numerous times during my runs through Central Park, having no idea of the history until my reading of Dr. Brier’s book.

Through great detail Dr. Brier describes how the Egyptians constructed and transported the obelisks to their destinations, the installation at the designated site, and the significance of them to the Pharaohs. He explains the engineering marvels, creativity, the perils of transporting them, and the sacrifices made by those who have moved them throughout the centuries.

His book is a history walk with plenty of details.

I listened to the audio narrated by Christopher Douvard. Unfortunately, his narration took away from the book. In many of the sections there was a nasally sound as he read and the reading was flat and dull, making the book drag on, feeling longer than it actually was. At times it felt like listening to grass grow, but for the rich history presented by Dr. Brier and my wanting to know more, I would have pulled the plug midway through.

If you want to know more about the obelisks of ancient Egypt, this is your book, just don’t get the audio version.

My rating reflects the narrated version. In ebook or paper form it would be 4 stars.

I found this book to be extremely enjoyable and informative. I am an archaeologist and a teacher, with more than a passing knowledge of Egyptian archaeology. I thought the perspective of this book was excellent, following a trend for historiography of archaeology and object biography. The author not only explains how mining worked in ancient Egypt, but also how different world powers seized obelisks from Egypt in acts of colonialism and antiquarianism. I think an audience of non-archaeologists would enjoy this, but it must be stressed most of this book takes place in the 19th century, not in the ancient world. My only real criticism is the quality of the audiobook narration. The narrator gasps into the mic constantly through the audiobook. It's very distracting, if not alarming. Otherwise I really enjoyed this book.

Have you ever wondered about the many things that are found in ancient Egypt? Cuz I am MIND BLOWN honestly. The things they built? Heck yes ancient Egyptians.

This book places the focus on the obelisk and what happened with them after they were discovered. Who paid to have them moved? What happened with them then? Well it’s in here.

My one beef with this book is that it felt like it was everywhere and nowhere all at once. We’re talking about obelisks and then the Statue of Liberty in the same paragraph. While it made sense…it felt more like a “fun fact” than an actual essential part of the book.

Now I received the audiobook version through NetGalley and this could be where my issues arise from. It does state that we’ll get the blips included in the book itself as well and so the random fun facts could be just that in the book - for example a photo is included with that fun fact as the caption - but that gets lost in audio translation. The narrator is one of favorites for nonfiction. There’s something about his voice that is just perfect to me for books like this.

I did enjoy it, though. I like books like this.

⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to listen and review Cleopatra’s Needles. This book written and narrated by Bob Brier, PhD was a very interesting study of the obelisk of Egyptian architecture.

The descriptions of the dig sites and the journeys these obelisks took to be adorned by other cultures was well researched and interesting indeed.

I would recommend this book for both the narrator and writer as it satisfies a part of history that is most mysterious and interesting.

Cleopatra's needles by Bob Brier was an extremely interesting book. The orator for this book at times was a little dry but did coax me back in to listening.

I learned a ton. I learned how the rocks are actually mined as I didn't know that they had to actually burn the Rock in order for their bronze tools to be able to crack it. I also learned how important these obelisks were to the Egyptians.

I think it was fascinating to hear him talk about these pits where the mining was done and how they could spend months on these obelisks just to have one little crack and have to start all over again. I don't think I can look at those monuments and not remember how much effort and toiling it took for these things to be completed.

This book is written by a PhD and at first I thought I was going to encounter a lot of terms that I may or may not understand, but this was not the case. It was written in layman terms and sometimes over explained. As we don't 100% know how they actually move the obelisks around in Egyptian times, I found it interesting to find out what they went through to move them in more current times.

I highly suggest picking up a copy as I'm fairly certain you'll learn something.

DNF 3.2%, sent the issue I had to the publisher and hopefully it can get fixed so that I can listen to this book.. The issue dealt with the narrator taking a breath at the end of a sentences. It was a bit distracting for me and the first time I've heard it in the many books I've listened to.

Truly good storytellers writing nonfiction are rare, and it’s such a delight to find a new one. This is my first Bob Brier book, and it’s easily my favorite thing I’ve read so far this year.

As someone who is, generally speaking, more interested in Egyptomania and looting than in the history of ancient Egypt, this one was right up my alley.

Though the contextual history of why certain Egyptian obelisks ended up in possession of other nations isn’t unfamiliar to me, but the detail given here is far greater and it’s nice to see their individual histories rounded up in one place.

But what’s truly unusual and special about this book is that Brier gives us richly detailed accounts of *how* the obelisks were transported and erected. Everything—from the financing to the politics to the engineering—about this is fascinating, and Brier’s charmingly erudite narrative style is perfect for the subject.

I highly recommend the audiobook, which is read by one of my favorite narrators and is also a tremendously good format in which to take in all that this excellent book has to offer.