Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
Georgina Howell
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, vividly told and impeccably researched by Georgina Howell, 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. ... there's never a dull moment in the peerless life of this trailblazing character. - Kirkus ReviewsBinding Type: PaperbackAuthor: Georgina HowellPublisher: Farrar Straus GirouxPublished: 04/29/2008ISBN: 9780374531355Pages: 481Weight: 0.99lbsSize: 8.30h x 5.45w x 0.92dReview Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/27/2008 pg. 24
Binding Type: Paperback
Author: Georgina Howell
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Published: 04/29/2008
ISBN: 9780374531355
Pages: 481
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.45w x 0.92d
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/27/2008 pg. 24
Binding Type: Paperback
Author: Georgina Howell
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Published: 04/29/2008
ISBN: 9780374531355
Pages: 481
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.45w x 0.92d
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/27/2008 pg. 24
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
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- SKU: 9780374531355
- Category: Biography, Autobiography & Memoirs, Politics & Social Sciences
Book Title
Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations
ISBN
9780374531355
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, vividly told and impeccably researched by Georgina Howell, 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. ... there's never a dull moment in the peerless life of this trailblazing character. - Kirkus ReviewsBinding Type: Paperback
Author: Georgina Howell
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Published: 04/29/2008
ISBN: 9780374531355
Pages: 481
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.45w x 0.92d
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/27/2008 pg. 24
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, vividly told and impeccably researched by Georgina Howell, 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. ... there's never a dull moment in the peerless life of this trailblazing character. - Kirkus ReviewsBinding Type: Paperback
Author: Georgina Howell
Publisher: Farrar Straus Giroux
Published: 04/29/2008
ISBN: 9780374531355
Pages: 481
Weight: 0.99lbs
Size: 8.30h x 5.45w x 0.92d
Review Citations: New York Times Book Review 07/27/2008 pg. 24