When I first began reading about Empress Elisabeth of Austria—known affectionately as "Sisi"—I expected to meet one of history's great beauties. Instead, I met one of history's great free spirits. And perhaps that is what made her truly beautiful. Long before I learned about her famous waist, her ankle-length hair, or the portraits that captivated Europe, I learned one simple fact that made me smile. The young Emperor Franz Joseph traveled to meet Elisabeth's older sister, wh

How do ordinary human beings become extraordinary in the memories of others? Helen teaches us that myth can preserve a name. Cleopatra teaches us that history can preserve a legacy. Simonetta teaches us that love, admiration, and art can preserve a soul. Months before I ever learned Simonetta Vespucci's name, I stood quietly inside the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, gazing at Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Like millions of visitors before me, I admired one of the most famous paint

When I first began learning about Cleopatra, I expected to find the story of an extraordinary beauty. Instead, I found the story of an extraordinary woman. History has never quite known what to do with women like Cleopatra. Women who are intelligent. Women who are ambitious. Women who are charismatic. Women who command attention when they enter a room. Women who are impossible to ignore. For more than two thousand years, people have debated Cleopatra's beauty. Was she breatht

The Woman Who Became a Symbol Before I began writing this series, I unknowingly found myself following the footsteps of these stories. In March, I stood in Florence at the Uffizi Gallery, gazing at Botticelli's Birth of Venus. Like millions before me, I admired one of the most famous images of beauty ever created. Yet what fascinated me most was learning that Venus was not perfect. Her pose is unnatural. Her proportions are not mathematically precise. The painting is filled w

And Why Their Beauty Was Never the Most Interesting Thing About Them There have been billions of women throughout human history. Many were beautiful. Some were likely every bit as beautiful as the women whose names we know today. Yet somehow only a handful became legends. Why? The answer isn't symmetry. It isn't perfect skin. It isn't measurements. It isn't youth. It is story. Helen became the woman for whom kingdoms went to war. Cleopatra became the queen whose intellect res