Gertrude Bell: The Arabian Diaries, 1913-1914 Kindle Edition

It is truly amazing that this woman was able to successfully travel in a region that to this day does not value women all that much. Gertrude made lasting friendships and earned the respect of desert tribes' leaders just about a hundred years ago! The only drawback to this book is the scant dictionary at the back. Gertrude spoke fluent Arabic, so it came naturally to her to pepper her diary with Arabic expressions. The author of the book could have done a better job in offering translations. Other than that, it is a great read.

Gertrude Bell,describes.her journey to the desert of Arabia.We are able to admire,through her description,the beautiful landscapes and the way of life of the various tribes.We can also read about her detention at Hayil for several days by Ibn Rachid.The text,is so beautifully written,that the reader,has the impression of travelling,by the side of the author and explores with her,the desert,under the sun,the rain,or the wind.I recomment,warmly this book,to all those,who love travels,the desert,the orient and the past.

My purpose in reading this volume of Gertrude Bell's diaries was to learn about this powerful Englishwoman's adventures and discoveries in the Middle East written in her own words.Rosemary O'Brien did an excelllent job of editing this material which I used as part of a book report on THE DESERT QUEEN. It helped me understand both Bell's professional life in which she helped create the modern Mesopotamia. It includes descriptions of life on the desert and in the city, and letters and the passions of her love life. The book also included many interestng photographs taken by Gertrude Bell.

A stunning female version of T. E. Lawrence but without the blood and guts. Bell had a true affinity for the desert and her people.

read a good bell bio first, to get up to speed as to style, period, and persons. then attempt this book, one of several diaries and collections of letters published in bell's lifetime. I hesitate to say it was DRY, but her style is quite contemporary and moves right along, though the content is inevitably repetitious. the modern reader reads with the foreknowledge of 'how things turn out'; that ms bell was unwittingly laying the groundwork of the future history of the middle east, literally inventing modern Syria, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, Yemen, etc. including the seeds of the present-day situations.any study of the ample bell material makes you an authority of why things are as they are.

This is a wonderful collection of writings, consisting mainly of her letters to a close friend, from an extraordinarily talented Arabist scholar whose impact on the destinies the Middle East, for good or for ill, is imposible to ignore.

This is a book you cannot read like a novel; even as a diary, it is hard to understand, because entries are short and there are many unintelligible initials and half-words. It is a book for scholars, not for the average reader.