| |||||||||||||||
 Trade In this Item for up to £0.25
Get an extra £5 when you trade in books worth £10 or more until June 30, 2012. Trade in Daughter of the Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell for an Amazon.co.uk gift card of up to £0.25, which you can then spend on millions of items across the site. Trade-in values may vary (terms apply). Find more products eligible for trade-in.
|
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Product Description
Review
‘What a great Oscar-laden biopic this will make …the combination of epic scenes and personal drama makes Georgina Howell’s saga a winner’ Roger Lewis, Daily Express 'Howell sketches in the gradations of colour and emotion that have been lacking in hitherto monochrome accounts of Bell's life ... Exemplary' Sunday Times 'You don't have to share Gertrude Bell's passions in order to be her biographer, but it helps' Daniel Johnson Sunday Telegraph Seven 'One reads this richly rewarding book wishing that Britain had a shred of the esteem it had in the Arab world in the days of Gertrude Bell.' Peter Lewis Daily Mail 'Journalist Georgina Howell readily admits to being a fan of the intrepid Victorian Gertrude Bell even before starting her biography... Drawing extensively on Bell's writings and personal letters, Howell draws up a detailed picture ob Bell's life and loves...In the current climate Bell's part in creating modern-day Iraq is particularly resonant.' Siobhan Murphy Metro London ‘Riveting. Howell’s mastery of an extremely complex network of events in the Middle East appears to be effortless; her portraits of the personalities involved, both British and Arab, are excellent … few women have had a life more worth reading about.’ Diana Athill, Literary Review ‘Her story is well known in the context of Middle-Eastern politics, but Georgina Howell humanizes the political woman by giving a full, engagingly written account of her privileged upbringing and frustrated love, while a young woman, for two men.’ The Times ‘[Daughter of the Desert] not only documents the life of one of the greatest female explorers of her time, but brings to life her indomitable character, with some well-chosen anecdotes and meticulous research. Here is a lesson in biography and travel writing …For anyone serious about becoming a travel writer this enchanting biography is a delight. It covers not only travel, but also how to take an adventure and turn it into a story.’ Writer’s Forum ‘This excellent biography of Gertrude Bell, the woman behind the creation of modern Iraq, goes far towards making her a true heroine, a Gertrude of Arabia to match her friend, T.E. Lawrence … With a skill and clarity worthy of her heroine, Ms Howell evokes the diversity of religions, interests and traditions that Gertrude Bell understood so thoroughly. What emerges is a woman who, though officially part of the male world, never conformed to it.’ Economist
Sunday Times Culture
'Howell paints a picture of a generous woman struggling against the sexual prejudices of her time.'
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
34 of 34 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
I have just had the pleasure of reading Georgina Howell's and then Janet Wallach's biography, in quick succession. I am turning into something of a Gertrude fan! If you're looking for an accessible, entertaining insight into Gertrude as a person; then this is the book for you. Howell's heavy use of extracts from her letters and diaries allows Bell's wit and lyricism to shine through. This, interwoven with attractive prose combines to convey the incredible romance of her story; from her doomed love affairs, mountaineering exploits, desert adventures, translations of Sufi poetry, to her moving relationship with her Father. Howell's unashamedly partisan approach makes it all the more enjoyable for the reader!
She makes a point of including a detailed account of Bell's considerable mountaineering achievements which I found quite gripping. She was after all considered by many to be one the best, if not the best female climber of her time. I was glad to have been given insight into this part of her life. It makes you realise the level of frustration she must have experienced later on, when confined to a desk job during the early part of the first world war.
Howell runs into difficulty when tackling the politics that led to the birth of Iraq, in which of course Bell plays an integral role. I found her explanation a little confused. Maybe it suffered from having been condensed a little too much. She certainly doesn't attempt to place the events in some historical context, despite the obvious relevance to the current problems in the Middle East. Janet Wallach's account fared better at a clear explanation of the politics, but neither adequately weighed up her contribution to the success or failure of her newly created Iraq.
(It seemed to me this region was just not ready for national government, and that Bell made many pragmatic decisions within the confines of an extremely complex and vacillating Foreign policy and without her close relationship with the peoples, landscape and history of Iraq, the constitutional monarchy would not have lasted as long as it did.)
So, Howell offers us a moving and personal story of this wonderfully multi-faceted woman. The irony is that it's taken an anti-suffragist woman for me to appreciate a culture that previously, for me, was only synonymous with misogyny.
She makes a point of including a detailed account of Bell's considerable mountaineering achievements which I found quite gripping. She was after all considered by many to be one the best, if not the best female climber of her time. I was glad to have been given insight into this part of her life. It makes you realise the level of frustration she must have experienced later on, when confined to a desk job during the early part of the first world war.
Howell runs into difficulty when tackling the politics that led to the birth of Iraq, in which of course Bell plays an integral role. I found her explanation a little confused. Maybe it suffered from having been condensed a little too much. She certainly doesn't attempt to place the events in some historical context, despite the obvious relevance to the current problems in the Middle East. Janet Wallach's account fared better at a clear explanation of the politics, but neither adequately weighed up her contribution to the success or failure of her newly created Iraq.
(It seemed to me this region was just not ready for national government, and that Bell made many pragmatic decisions within the confines of an extremely complex and vacillating Foreign policy and without her close relationship with the peoples, landscape and history of Iraq, the constitutional monarchy would not have lasted as long as it did.)
So, Howell offers us a moving and personal story of this wonderfully multi-faceted woman. The irony is that it's taken an anti-suffragist woman for me to appreciate a culture that previously, for me, was only synonymous with misogyny.
29 of 30 people found the following review helpful
Format:Hardcover|Amazon Verified Purchase
I had heard bits and pieces of Miss Bells life story, but until you read it in full you dont realise how before her time she was. From her early (VERY english) encounters with the bedouin of Arabia, to her sterling war work, her ardent love of mountaineering and attempts to prop up the newly instituted independant kingdoms of Jordan and Iraq she comes across as an indomitable and unstoppable force of nature. Given the current lamentable state of the middle east you cant help wishing she had been born a century later. What makes this even more poignant are her sad little attempts at romance with men that allow you to see the person beneath the matriach. Beautiful.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
This book is long and the print is small, and I approached it with trepidation (it was a Book Club title) but I was soon totally engrossed - what an amazing life for a woman of those times. It treats her as a whole person, not only detailing her exploits as a fearless explorer of the Arabian desert but as an archaeologist and mountaineer, and reveals the sadness of her personal life. It filled in for me many details of the impact of the First World War in that area, the role of Turkey and the setting up of the independent Arab nations by the Western world, and her key role in all of this. A superlative biography, and one which I found more absorbing than most novels.
Most Recent Customer Reviews
A Fascinating Life!
I am not sure why I had not heard of Gertrude Bell before seeing Kate Silverton talking about this book on BBC; obviously a gap in my education! Read more
Published 1 month ago by pgmalyon
daughter of the desert
Well documented account of the life of Gertrude Bell. Good to include extracts from her own writings as this increases the authenticity of the subject. Read more
Published 1 month ago by Mrs. J. Molloy
An extraordinary lady.
Perhaps one of the lesser known champions of women's independence (she did have suffragette connections) Gertrude Bell made an impact in the Arab world unexpected for her gender. Read more
Published 14 months ago by Willvend
I need a wife!
"I need a wife!"
How many busy working wives and mothers have uttered this lament since the era of Women's Lib started in the early 1980s? Read more
How many busy working wives and mothers have uttered this lament since the era of Women's Lib started in the early 1980s? Read more
Published 17 months ago by Thoughtful reader
What a book !
I decided to change the style of book I was reading and on a suggestion bought this book. Wow ..... it has changed my whole style of reading although I am sure I will return to my... Read more
Published 17 months ago by Book Bug
Daughter of the desert
Had never heard of Gertrude Bell before I read this book about her. I was so impressed to read about a woman who should be as famous as Lawrence of Arabia. Read more
Published 18 months ago by C. Stanton
Daughter of the Desert
It starts off as a very good read, but gets bogged down with overly long narratives during and after the First World War details.
It's worth a read.
It's worth a read.
Published 22 months ago by Mr. Nicholas Ross
An inspiration to modern day travellers!
Undoubtedly the best biography I have ever read about a women I knew nothing about. When other wealthy Victorian women were sitting embroidering in their salons Gertrude risked her... Read more
Published on 17 July 2009 by A. Collings
A Stunning Read
I came across this biography by chance and thoroughly enjoyed it. There are some comparisons to an earlier woman adventurer in Lady Hester Stanhope but Gertrudde Bell for me has a... Read more
Published on 16 July 2009 by B. C. Hughes
captivating!
I don't normally read biographies, but I was handed this on holiday and was completely captivated. Gertrude Bell is the most extraordinary woman and Georgina Howell writes simply... Read more
Published on 20 Nov 2008 by E. Davies
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
- Books > Biography > Historical > 1901 Onwards
- Books > Biography > Political
- Books > History > Countries & Regions > Asia > 1900-1945
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
- I am the Author, and I want to comment on my book.
- I am the Publisher, and I want to comment on this book.
|
