![]() ![]() ![]() (She had two great loves – the first was deemed to have insufficient prospects by her father and the second was a married man who was killed at Gallipoli). She did expect to get married, have children and play second fiddle to a husband, but never did. ![]() Oddly for such an ambitious and atypical woman, she was staunchly anti-suffragist, seemingly thinking of herself as an exception. She went on to become a noted mountaineer and traveled throughout the Middle-East as an explorer and antiquarian. A strong willed and intelligent youngster, she was one of the first women in England to be allowed to attend a university. The book covers her life from the late 1800s through the late 1920s. That included choosing Iraq’s first King – Faisal – and making sure he was put on the throne. She drew its borders, foresaw the difficulties, recommended how it should be governed, and negotiated and politicked until she got her way. Little remembered until the recent Iraq wars, it was she who sat down in 1919 and quite literally invented the country. This fascinating account, set during the height of British imperialism, follows the life of the remarkable Gertrude Bell. Jack’s guest Monday book review – Desert Queen by Janet Wallach ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |