Queen of the Desert: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell

 
Archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, mountaineer and nation builder, Gertrude Bell was born in 1868 into a world of privilege and plenty, but she turned her back on all that for her passion for the Arab peoples, becoming the architect of the independent kingdom of Iraq and seeing its first king Faisal safely onto the throne in 1921. 'Queen of the Desert' is her story, vividly told and impeccably researched, drawing on Gertrude's own writings, both published and unpublished.