A portrait of the longest-reigning woman pharaoh in Ancient Egypt draws on surviving artifacts to consider her unprecedented rise, her achievements and why most of her monuments were destroyed after her death.

Hatshepsut--the daughter of a general who usurped Egypt's throne and a mother with ties to the previous dynasty--was born into a privileged position in the royal household, and she was expected to bear the sons who would legitimize the reign of her father's family. Her failure to produce a male heir was ultimately the twist of fate that paved the way for her improbable rule as a cross-dressing king. At just over twenty, Hatshepsut ascended to the rank of pharaoh in an elaborate coronation ceremony that set the tone for her spectacular reign as co-regent with Thutmose III, the infant king whose mother she out-maneuvered for a seat on the throne. A master strategist, Hatshepsut successfully negotiated a path from the royal nursery to the very pinnacle of authority, and her reign saw one of Ancient Egypt's most prolific building periods. Scholars have long speculated as to why her monuments were destroyed within a few decades of her death, all but erasing evidence of her unprecedented rule. Constructing a rich narrative history using the artifacts that remain, noted Egyptologist Kara Cooney offers a remarkable interpretation of how Hatshepsut rapidly but methodically consolidated power--and why she fell from public favor just as quickly. Cooney traces the unconventional life of an almost-forgotten pharaoh and explores our complicated reactions to women in power.--Publisher information.