OurColony.net

Customer Rating:
Summary: A Fascinating Biography of an Unbelievable Life
Comment: One measure of a fine book is if it captures and holds the reader's attention even if the subject is
outside the reader's background and interests. This is such a book. Gertrude Bell (1868-1926)led an
extraordinary life, whose many facets are captured in this superior biography. Born to a wealthy
Yorkshire family, she was the first woman to receive a First Class degree in modern history from
Oxford. She next took up challenging mountain climbing (my only criticism of the book is too much
space is devoted to this topic). But the book's core is the period when she becomes interested in
the Middle East, which the British designated as Mesopotamia and TransJordan, but which we know
today as Iraq and Saudi Arabia.

She mastered the pertinent languages (Turkish and of
course Arabic among others), traveled all over the region between 1900 and 1914 conducting
archeology research and photographing sites (many of which photos are available on the web in the
Gertrude Bell Photographic Archive of Newcastle University), authored a number of books, and became
well acquainted with the Bedouin tribes that roamed the area. Later she joined the British colonial
administration in Baghdad, and helped (along with her friend T.E. Lawrence) foment the Arab uprising
against the Turks during WWI that is the central element of the "Lawrence of Arabia" film. She
argued for self-determination for this area at the Versailles Peace Conference, and even confronted
Churchill on the issue when he had responsibility for colonial administration. She helped map the
boundaries of what we now know as Iraq, was instrumental in selecting Faisal as its first King, and
played a prominent role in the governance of the new nation. As if this was not enough, toward the
end of her life (she committed suicide in 1926, probably due to advanced lung cancer) she founded
the National Museum of Iraq, the same museum that the American military allowed to be ransacked
during the Iraq War. She is buried in Baghdad.

The book is over 400 pages in this
paperback edition, but it moves along quickly as it is quite a fascinating tale. The author has
included extensive notes, some excellent Bell photographs, a chronology, and a fine bibliography. A
major side benefit to reading the book is that the reader learns quite a lot about the background of
Iraq and Saudi Arabia, obviously topics greatly on our minds at the present. To have led such a life
is amazing; to have contributed in so many ways during that life is even more so. The book Ms. Bell
deserved.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Boring as can be due to boring author
Comment: The author gives absolutely no insight into Gertrude Bell and just recites the itinerary of one trip
after another. Bell is made out to be an obsessive cartoon character running around the map like
Bugs Bunny. After climbing the Matterhorn, she mysteriously decides to expensively explore the
desert -- alone. I'd really like to know more about her. Someone suggested Desert Queen" by Janet
Wallach.

Customer Rating:
Summary: Gertrude Bell
Comment: I have come to enjoy memoir because it is full of feeling as well as information. But Georgina
Howell's biography is so full of excerpts from the letters of Gertrude Bell--the subject of this
excellent book--that we get a comprehensive sense of Bell's feelings. Howell makes it clear that
Bell consistently understated the difficulties in her life. It is certainly a life to know about and
to be celebrated.

Gertrude Bell, who died in 1926, is known as the woman behind the
creation of modern Iraq. She was born into a wealthy socially conservative family and displayed her
brilliance and non-conformity early on. She attended Oxford and was the first woman to attain First
Class Honors in History. She traveled to Persia, began her studies of Persian language and
literature in Teheran, and fell in love with a man unacceptable to her family. She returned to
England, where she continued her studies, adding Arabic to the mix. Never one to live life half way,
she discovered the challenge of mountain climbing and conquered several peaks in the Alps, sometimes
being the first woman to do so.

Bell made three trips through the uncharted Arabian
Peninsula, visiting archeological sites, carefully creating maps, and dropping in to visit sheiks in
full evening wear. An important purpose of her travels was to learn about the alliances and customs
of the numerous tribes. This knowledge was applied when she began working with the British
government to build a unified Arabic nation after the defeat of the Germans and their allies the
Turks in WWI.

The unification was a struggle. Howell writes: "The army wins the
territory, and the administration takes over; but in Mesopotamia the struggle to install conditions
conducive to peace and eventual prosperity would prove as daunting as the battlefront itself...Arabs
spoke a common language but were not a common people..." This struggle, which took place almost 100
years ago, has many similarities with the Iraq struggle today. Bell's later life was so intertwined
with the founding of Iraq that the details of the political struggle cannot be left out.
/>Howell does a splendid job of bringing the astonishing Gertrude Bell to life. Her descriptions of
the often bleak landscape, the oases of sheikdoms, and the contrast of desert life with Bell's
luxurious wardrobe, living style and traveling entourage enliven the biography. Fortunately for us,
Bell's family and friends saved her detailed letters. Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of
Nations illuminates the many centuries-old causes of the current struggle in the Middle East. />
by Judith Helburn
for Story Circle Book Reviews
reviewing books by, for, and
about women

Customer Rating:
Summary: Solid Biography with Contemporary Insight
Comment: Well written---engaging story. Historically comprehensive. Provides valuable insight into
historical background of current Iraq conflict.

Customer Rating:
Summary: a disappointment
Comment: Gertrude Bell was an amazing woman. This book is ponderous. The style is flat, the author's point
of view uncritical. It reads like a boring history book. If she had done more research instead of
just quoting letters and anecdotes from Gertrude's letters she could have fleshed Gertrude out and
made her 3 dimensional. There are other authors that have done justice to Gertrude and made her come
alive for us to admire.
This book leaves you feeling like you know alot of facts about
Gertrude but nothing about the woman she was.