Gertrude Bell : queen of the desert, shaper of nations / Georgina Howell.
Material type:
TextPublication details: New York : Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007.Edition: 1st American edDescription: xix, 481 p. : ill., maps ; 24 cmISBN: - 0374161623 (hardcover : alk. paper)
- 9780374161620 (hardcover : alk. paper)
- Daughter of the desert
| Item type | Home library | Collection | Call number | Materials specified | Status | Date due | Barcode | Item holds | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Adult Book
|
Main Library | Biography | Bell, G. H859 | Available | 33111005318676 |
Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:
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.
"Originally published in 2006 by Macmillan, Great Britain, as Daughter of the desert"--T.p. verso.
Includes bibliographical references (p. [453]-460) and index.
Gertrude and Florence -- Education -- The civilized woman -- Becoming a person -- Mountaineering -- Desert travel -- Dick Doughty-Wylie -- Limit of endurance -- Escape -- War work -- Cairo, Delhi, Basra -- Government through Gertrude -- Anger -- Faisal -- Coronation -- Staying and leaving
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 into privilege in 1868, Bell turned her back on Victorian society, choosing to read history at Oxford and going on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, and mountaineer. She traveled the globe several times, but her passion was the desert--her vast knowledge of the region made her indispensable to the British government during World War I. As an army major on the front lines in Mesopotamia, 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.--From publisher description.