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A Woman in Arabia

The Writings of the Queen of the Desert

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A Woman in Arabia

By: Gertrude Bell, Georgina Howell - editor, Georgina Howell - introduction
Narrated by: Sian Thomas, Adjoa Andoh
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About this listen

 A portrait in her own words of the female Lawrence of Arabia, the subject of the PBS documentary Letters from Baghdad, voiced by Tilda Swinton, and the major motion picture Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco, Damian Lewis, and Robert Pattinson and directed by Werner Herzog

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. Adventurers, Explorers & Survival Art & Literature Authors Entertainment & Celebrities Middle East Women Iran Celebrity Africa Royalty Imperialism Ottoman Empire Middle Ages Crusade
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This is a fantastic collection of the writings of the supremely interesting polymath, Gertrude Bell. Her intrepid and sagacious adventures in many fields, including mountaineering, archaeology, statecraft and languages, make for fascinating listening, and Georgina Howell has selected, edited and arranged these with a sympathetic intelligence, and in such a way that the listener builds up a real sense of what Bell was like - an exceptionally fascinating, talented, empathetic woman ahead of her time. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and the joint readers Sian Thomas (for Gertrude’s own voice) and Adjoa Andoh (editorial) made a terrific and engaging narrative team.
Whether you’re interested in any of the fields Bell was involved in, or simply want to hear about the story of an appealingly complex, pioneering woman, you’d be hard-pressed to find a more captivating listen than this.

Riveting compilation of the writings of a remarkable woman

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Never heard of Gertrude Bell, now I wish I had paid more attention when I was serving in Iraq. Incredible woman, climbed mountains in Austria and Switzerland, founded the Baghdad Library while speaking perfect Arabic.

Beautiful story

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This is a part of the history that you wish politicians learn from and repeat with the goodwill

Beautiful book and listen

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This book was fantastic. I thoroughly enjoyed listening to the Adventures Gertrude Bell went on throughout her life and respect she earned from all whom she met.

From dessert crossings, to mountain climbing (in a dress) to sitting for a portrait from J S Sargent.

to supporting a King assend his thrown. To building a museum for the communities of Bagdad. This book gave great insight into a wonderful and complex culture, I know little of due to today's political situation.

what a women.

what an adventure!

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Thoroughly engrossing-Gertrude Bell so very very far ahead of her time. Yes, she came from a privileged background and she had spadesful of confidence, but she was also very intelligent insightful and perceptive, with razor sharp interpersonal skills.
l have the sense that she used that foundation really well in the best interests of the country and its people to whom she committed her life and work, (and often in the face of predjudice and arrogance from 'home team' politicians and strategists)
l was left thinking that the world might have become a less dangerous place than it is now if she had been given more credence.

Gertrude Bell- absolute force of nature!

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