Georgina Howell (1942–2016)

And that then is my reason for connecting this review with that of Gertrude Bell’s biography. For indeed, how do you begin a biography? Especially with a woman who has lived such a life? A woman who once used to be more famous than T.E. Lawrence (who was a good friend actually), who travelled the Middle East, at a time when women rode side saddle (she had an apron sort of garment made to cover her pants), who climbed mountains (taking off her skirt to do so!), who was daring and brave and show more adventurous – at a time when women tended to keep to the home.

“Constrained and compartmentalised at home, in the East Gertrude became her own person.”

Howell does a great job piecing together her life, from letters, from other accounts of her, from the many works Bell wrote, essentially to figure out:

“By what evolution did a female descendent of Cumbrian sheep farmers become, in her time, the most influential figure in the Middle East?”

A gung-ho spirit, a fierce determination, wit and charm helps. As does knowing the right people! If you’re in the mood for a biography, may I suggest this one. Gertrude Bell, she astounds me. show less

Gertrude Bell’s is a fascinating story, the subject of three biographies (including this) in the past decade alone. Bell was largely responsible, along with T. E. Lawrence, for the shaping of much of the modern Middle East (including the state of Iraq): but this author is more interested in her status as a romantic heroine and style icon. We learn a lot about the fabrics that Bell used to design her desert outfits, and the care she took to always outfit her tents with linen, silver and show more crystal. According to Howell, the central event of Bell’s life was her unconsummated love affair with Dick Doughty-Wylie, a married soldier who died at Gallipoli. Howell is straightforward and unapologetic about her focus, which is unsurprising for a former junior editor with Vogue and Tatler; but it is odd that she does not show more interest in present-day Iraq. Her gushing enthusiasm for the charming eccentricities of the English upper classes becomes a little tiring, as does her tendency towards anachronistic cliché (“Her clear, unequivocal vision cut straight through political correctness…” (xi)). Overall, a hugely enjoyable, often annoying hagiography. show less

I was prepared to think of Gertrude Bell as an imperialist, she turned out to be a much more complex figure. An open person who was fascinated by the Middle East and sympathetic to the Arab tribes, she made an effort to live in their midst and learn their language. Her life and the lives of the people of the region were destroyed by the First World War and the interwar period. Although she was proud of her efforts to bring peace and independence to Iraq after the Second World War, she must show more clearly have doubted her place there once that was accomplished, and did not feel there was a place for her in England either--the end was heartbreakingly sad. show less

It was - remarkable. Apart from being an inspiring story of a woman who eschewed the constraints of a male dominated political and social scene, this is the inside story of the creation of the nation of Irag, and the sorry tale of early western involvement in Middle Eastern politics. Bush and Blair and their cronies would have done better to have read this and learnt something from Bell's nuanced view of Arab politics and culture before setting out on their childish adventures - but that show more presupposes that they could read - which in Bush's case might be doubted. The ordinary reader, however, will be rewarded. show less