The Crown and the Spotlight

<p>From Cleopatra's gilded barge to the age of Instagram Mythologies of Fame unravels how humanity has built worshiped and destroyed its idols for more than two thousand years. Historian Matthew Nichols takes readers on a journey through royal courts film studios and algorithmic feeds to reveal the hidden machinery that turns charisma into control - and desire into profit.</p><p>Across fifteen vivid chapters real figures step out of myth and back into history:</p><p>Cleopatra staging her first act of political theater on the Nile.</p><p>Napoleon painting himself into immortality.</p><p>Marilyn Monroe battling the studio machine that made her.</p><p>Diana Princess of Wales redefining empathy in a world ruled by lenses.</p><p>The influencers and algorithms that inherited their thrones.</p><p> </p><p>Part history part cultural x-ray this book explores how performance became identity - and how every era has confused visibility with power. It's a story of beauty manipulation and the universal hunger to be seen.</p><p>Whether you read for history psychology or modern culture Mythologies of Fame will leave you asking one uneasy question:</p><p>In a world where everyone can be famous who's really watching whom?</p>