Howell, Georgina (Bell, Gertrude)

Gertrude Bell: Queen of the Desert, Shaper of Nations

ISBN: 9780374161620
New York, NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 2007. First American Edition. Hardcover. "She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. At one time she was the most powerful woman in the British Empire, a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of Iraq. Born in 1868 into a world of privilege, she turned her back on house parties and debutante balls and instead chose to read history at Oxford, where she took a First in only two years. She would go on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author..., poet, photographer, and legendary mountaineer." (from front flap) A stirring, stranger-than-fiction account of the life & times of Gertrude Bell (1868-1926), the British aristocrat who became a polymathic agent of the British Empire in the Middle East, contemporaneous with & even outdoing the adventures of the legendary T.E. Lawrence. Author Georgina Howell (1942-2016), an award-winning British writer, was originally an acclaimed fashion journalist. With a section of captioned historical photographs. This volume was the basis for the well-received epic film, Queen of the Desert, directed by Werner Herzog & starring Nicole Kidman as Bell. Hardcover in unclipped dust jacket, first American edition as stated on copyright page, preceded the previous year (2006) by the first UK edition entitled Daughter of the Desert, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. A now-classic work of well-researched biography in its penultimately rarest original form. Book in very fine condition with only a touch of rubbing & a few tiny bumps, creases to edges & corners of front, back covers & spine; slight rubbing to lower edge of text block at/ near side edge of same; otherwise substantially mint inside & out. Dust jacket very fine with only some tiny bumps, creases at edges & corners of front, back covers, spine & flaps. An extra handling fee will be added for shipping due to the weight of this item. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #4939]

Price: $40.00