Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations [L0064]

2008 PB in nice clean condition. A marvelous tale of an adventurous life of great historical import. She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of modern-day Iraq. Born in 1868 into a world of privilege, Bell turned her back on Victorian society, choosing to read history at Oxford and going on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author (of Persian Pictures, The Desert and the Sown, and many other collections), poet, photographer, and legendary mountaineer (she took off her skirt and climbed the Alps in her underclothes). She traveled the globe several times, but her passion was the desert, where she traveled with only her guns and her servants. Her vast knowledge of the region made her indispensable to the Cairo Intelligence Office of the British government during World War I. She advised the Viceroy of India; then, as an army major, she traveled to the front lines in Mesopotamia. There, she supported the creation of an autonomous Arab nation for Iraq, promoting and manipulating the election of King Faisal to the throne and helping to draw the borders of the fledgling state. Gertrude Bell Queen of the Desert is vividly told and impeccably researched by Georgina Howell. It is a richly compelling portrait of a woman who transcended the restrictions of her class and times, and in so doing, created a remarkable and enduring legacy.

From recent Amazon/GoodReads reviews: "If Gertrude Bell had been a man, she would be as well-known and mythologized as T.E. Lawrence who lived in the same time period and held the same beliefs. She knew the Mideast intimately, embarking on dangerous (reckless) journeys through the desert after learning Arabic. She befriended sheiks, tribesmen, and powerful players in the British Empire. She believed in the cause of Arab self-rule and worked hard to make that come to fruition. Her copious records and detailed accounts of ancient sites have been used by archaeologists ever since. The Museum of Antiquities in Baghdad houses a wing dedicated to her memory."; "A well told story about an amazing woman. With all the turmoil in the Middle East today I was curious about the origins of the Balkanization of what was once Arabia. Although the final boundaries were almost arbitrary with little consideration given to tribal affiliations and ethnic and religious adherents, Gertrude Bell was indeed sensitive to these differences. She argued, often unsuccessfully, for the creation of nation states more closely attuned to ethnic, religious and tribal connections. Howell does a tremendous job of describing our heroine as a woman ahead of her time. From her mountain climbing youth to her travels through Arabia--alone, the picture is one of a brilliant woman full of life and with a keen sense of adventure."; "Howell's biography of Gertude Bell spells out the emergence of modern Iraq, and this fascinating woman who played such an important role in that. I found this well written and well-organized, following Bell's life in the UK in the late 19th century into what must have been a unique role as a woman holding a senior position in the British colonial service in the First World War. Having followed recent developments in Iraq, its rather sad that many of the differences of 90-odd years back seem to recur, without many learning form the previous lessons."