Desert Queen

by Janet Wallach

Book Overview

The definitive biography, mesmerizing and "richly textured " (Chicago Tribune), that inspired the acclaimed documentary, Letters from Baghdad. - With a new Afterword - "Desert Queen...plucks Gertrude... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385474083
• ISBN13: 9780385474085
• Release Date: August 1996
• Publisher: Nan A. Talese
• Length: 419 Pages
• Weight: 1.95 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 6.8" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

An Extraordinary Adventure

Wallach's biography of Gertrude Bell is an excellent read. It offers an intimate picture of Bell, the woman, the intellectual, the adventurer, and the political strategist. Desert Queen offers an outstanding historical and political background of the Post-WWI period of Iraq and the Middle East revealing that the political issues and concerns that confront Iraq today are similar to those which confronted Mesopotamia and Iraq in the early 20th c. This book along with Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T.E. Lawrence and Arabian Sands by Wilfred Thesiger are must reads for those interested in Middle East history, culture and politics.

Exciting book on an extraordinary woman

When I read this book, I had never before heard of Gertrude Bell. This book is also the only thing I have read about her, so my opinion of the job this book does in presenting her life (in comparison to other works) is limited. Although the book is very detailed (some parts were a little hard to get thru...) I overall thought it was well written. I did not find it lame at all! I greatly enjoyed this book! Some call her the female version of Lawrence of Arabia. Her life was a grand adventure in many ways. She was intelligent, college educated, and fluent in many languages. She refused to conform to what was expected of a typical Victorian woman, and went off boldly traveling. She became an expert on Arabia, even traveling into areas where no white man had gone, let alone a white woman! Her first-hand expertise on Arabia landed her a job with the British government during WWI. Although as a woman she got no credit (your average person has never even heard of her!) - the information and analysis she provided guided much of the policy that was developed on Arabia. She herself drew the map that divvied up Arabia into countries. (Hmm...she is really responsible for some of the problems that exist over there.) She attended the Cairo Conference in Egypt after the war. And had much to do with the formation of Iraq. In fact, she is sometimes called the "uncrowned Queen of Iraq". However, her life was also very tragic. One of the only men she ever truly loved - her father refused to grant his permission for her to marry him. This devastated her, and the man actually died soon after this refusal. She was lonely... Often isolated, and discriminated against in various ways because she was a woman in a government position. She was also an atheist with no spiritual faith to guide or help her. In the end, she committed suicide. A tragic end to a life that was truly a bold and grand adventure!

Gertrude Bell was an extremely contemporary woman.

Having never heard of Gertrude Bell, it was a complete surprise that the Muslim tribal leaders and British military men of the Victorian age would have allowed the interference, strength and advice that Ms. Bell brought to the table. Extraordinary person of any century. I found this book fascinating, not at all tedious, and appreciated the author not imposing her own vocabulary on the subject.It was especially relevant, in light of King Hussein's recent death, to better understand the genesis of the middle eastern states.

A sweeping biography of a woman ahead of her time

A sweeping, fascinating tale of a woman ahead of her time. This will written, well researched biography was hard to put down. Gertrude Bell herself, a contemporary of Lawrence of Arabia, was a complex, brilliant woman whose life was peppered with many tragedies as well as adventures. Diminutive in size, she scaled mountains, camped in the desert and broke bread with tribal chiefs. She felt more at ease in the Middle East than her own homeland of England, where Victorian women were ruled by social confines. Perhaps it was because of her sex that Arabians allowed her more carte blanche. In a countryland which shuts its women off like trophies, Bell was often treated more like a preistess. She had the audacity to be ultimately feminine and intelligent at the same time, which gave her a special status on foreign soil. Professionally, Bell triumphed, and was accepted as an authority on the Middle East. Her love life, however, as well as relationships with her own family, fell short. If you want to entreat yourself to an adventure of a female "Indiana Jones", I recommend this book. Even if you don't care for Gertrude Bell's character, you will not forget her.