A Woman in Arabia
The Writings of the Queen of the Desert
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A Woman in Arabia
Narrated by:
Sian Thomas, Adjoa Andoh
Buy Now for $25.99
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Narrated by:
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Sian Thomas
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Adjoa Andoh
About this listen
Gertrude Bell was leaning in 100 years before Sheryl Sandberg. One of the great woman adventurers of the twentieth century, she turned her back on Victorian society to study at Oxford and travel the world, and became the chief architect of British policy in the Middle East after World War I. Mountaineer, archaeologist, Arabist, writer, poet, linguist, and spy, she dedicated her life to championing the Arab cause and was instrumental in drawing the borders that define today’s Middle East.
As she wrote in one of her letters, “It’s a bore being a woman when you are in Arabia.” Forthright and spirited, opinionated and playful, and deeply instructive about the Arab world, this volume brings together Bell’s letters, military dispatches, diary entries, and travel writings to offer an intimate look at a woman who shaped nations.
For more than seventy years, Penguin has been the leading publisher of classic literature in the English-speaking world. With more than 1,800 titles, Penguin Classics represents a global bookshelf of the best works throughout history and across genres and disciplines. Readers trust the series to provide authoritative texts enhanced by introductions and notes by distinguished scholars and contemporary authors, as well as up-to-date translations by award-winning translators.
Make no mistake, Gertrude Bell was from a very wealthy family whom had a relaxed view of allowing their daughter to travel extensively and undertake private tutor education as and when she wished.
What makes Gertrude Bell extraordinary is she could have maintained a life a leisure, however following a tourist trip to Greece where she imposed herself on the archaeologists to let her have a go on the dig, she developed an interest in archaeology which led her to the countries, we now know as, the Middle East.
She had the means to travel extensively and did so both for personal interest and achaeological pursuits, however she also learnt much about the people, the cultures, languages and tribal interactions, all of great use to the British governments when the time came to "divide up" the Arabic territories into bordered countries and governments.
She was a keenly intelligent woman who lived an extraordinary life, the questions surrounding her passing should not overshadow all of her other works and achievements.
The birth of Iraq.
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Gertrude Bell
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