Gertrude Bell

Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations

By: Georgina Howell

Narrated by: Corrie James

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, poet, photographer, and legendary mountaineer.

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. 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.

©2006 Manoir La Roche Ltd. (P)2016 Tantor

Critic reviews

"The strength and delight of Howell's superb biography is in the fullness with which Bell's character is drawn." ( Publishers Weekly)

Highly recommended!

Amazing story beautifully written and wonderfully narrated by Corrie James. It opened my eyes to history of the current Middle Eastern situation and unfolded an unimaginably fascinating character in the form of Gertrude bell, whom I had never heard of before. Pass this on to any friend , man or woman, and the will find it utterly engaging.

Great biography of a great person

I loved the use Gertrude's letters and writings, as well as the letters and writings of her contemporaries. Such an amazing life and individual!!

amazing woman, history, detail, writing narrator

amazing woman history writing detail narrator everything 8 7 65 4 3 2 words remaining

Honesty and genuine caring fir people

A clean straight forward telling if a great woman and huge asset to the world during and after WW1 . We need someone like her now.

Politically fascinating picture of today's conflicts.

The breaking up of the Ottoman empire and the Britains commonwealth dissolving the British held lands in the middle East are a vivid tapestry in Gertrude Bell 's life. She was an amazing woman to have worked and traveled through the Middle East in the Victorian era. The lands were divided, laws were written for governing the new countries of Iran and Iraq based on the recommendations of Gertrude Bell .