A Woman in Arabia Read Online Free

chapters. In the case of some subjects, her observations over the years needed only a short headnote. In others, where history or her personal story developed in reaction to events, I have set her writings in an explanatory narration. The Chronology at the beginning of the book provides the time line necessarily missing from this approach.
    The majority of her quotes come from letters to her beloved father and stepmother, to whom as a sacred duty she wrote almost daily. In letters written to her great friend and mentor Sir Valentine Chirol, she often exposed her emotional state more clearly than to her parents, whom she always tried to protect from anxiety about her well-being. In addition to letters, there are extracts from her books, diaries and official papers, reports, reviews, and bulletins. I hope this volume will stand in for the autobiography she never wrote.
    Formidable as she could be as a stateswoman and figurehead, she was the most devoted family member, affectionate friend, and loyal aide. Her favorite sister, Elsa Richmond, wrote this of her:
    â€œEternally young, she lived every moment to the full. The years went by, but they could not chill her warm heart. To the end of her life she remained what she was at the beginning: self-willed, impatient, infinitely loving, pouring herself out in devotion to those dear to her. And now all her brilliance, her waywardness, her sympathy, her affection lie buried in the sandy cemetery of Baghdad, the memory of that vital nature remains as a possession to those who knew and loved her.”
    GEORGINA HOWELL

Note on the Text and Acknowledgments
    Most of Gertrude Bell’s letters, diaries, and papers are reproduced here by kind permission of the Robinson Library, University of Newcastle upon Tyne. Her appendix to “Self-Determination in Mesopotamia” and her letters to Valentine Chirol are reproduced by kind permission of Durham University Library. The majority of the letters are taken from
The Letters of Gertrude Bell,
selected by Lady Bell, DBE, first published by Ernest Benn Limited, London, in September 1927. Many letters not included in Lady Bell’s collection have been taken from
Gertrude Bell: From her Personal Papers, Volume 1, 1889–1914
, and
Volume 2, 1914–1926
, edited by Elizabeth Burgoyne. Both volumes were published by Ernest Benn Limited, London, in 1961. T. E. Lawrence’s letter of November 4, 1927, written to Sir Hugh Bell more than a year after Gertrude’s death, is included by kind permission of the Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust.
    Other works of great importance to this volume include a summary of Gertrude’s life compiled by the Robinson Library’s late archivist Lesley Gordon to accompany a 1994 exhibition based on Gertrude’s archaeological work, titled “Gertrude Bell 1868–1926”;
Gertrude Bell: The Arabian Diaries, 1913–1914
, edited by Rosemary O’Brien, published by Syracuse University Press in 2000; and
A Prince of Our Disorder: The Life of T. E. Lawrence
by John Mack, published by Harvard University Press in 1976.
    Unless otherwise stated, all letters quoted in this volume are addressed to Gertrude’s father and stepmother.
    Gertrude’s spelling was not her strongest point, and on desert journeys in unmapped areas, or guided by inadequate maps, her rendition of place names was inconsistent. This book maintains her spelling throughout, whether in English or when quoting Arabic. Similarly, she sometimes found it difficult to keep track of the date. After her death, her stepmother wrote: “Gertrude hardly ever dated her letters except by the day of the week, sometimes not even that.” The dates have been clarified where possible.
    Whenever Gertrude mentions monetary amounts, they are given in British pounds as she wrote them, followed in brackets by a figure adjusted first to the 2014 value for British pounds by the change in the Retail Price Index (RPI), then