A Quest in the Middle East Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq

by Lukitz, Liora

• ISBN13: 9781850434153
• ISBN10: 1850434158
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2006-03-03
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris

Summary

Revered or reviled, Gertrude Bell was a commanding figure: scholar, linguist, archaeologist, traveler and "Orientalist". Belonging to the tradition of the great British Middle East enthusiasts of the early twentieth century, she explored the Ottoman Empire during and after World War I and was (alongside T.E. Lawrence) hugely instrumental in the post-war reconfiguration of the Arab states in the Middle East. Using previously unseen sources, including Gertrude Bell's own diaries and letters, Liora Lukitz provides a deeper political and personal biography of this influential character and the tragedy, vulnerability and frustration that were key to her quest both for a British-dominated Middle East and relief from her troubled romantic life.

Author Biography

Liora Lukitz has for several years been a research fellow at the Center for Middle East Studies at Harvard University.

Table of Contents

List of Illustrations	vi
Acknowledgements	vii
Preface	1	(9)
Prologue	10	(13)
Part I -- The Journey
`Light of Mine Eyes and Harvest of My Heart'	23	(8)
`She Had Known Ruptures, She Had Known the Whole'	31	(25)
`The Shadow of a Stone'	56	(21)
`I Will Dedicate This Year to You'	77	(30)
Part II -- Arrival
`On the Edge of Important Things'	107	(18)
`Father, Think!'	125	(18)
`To Make Kings, to Invent Kingdoms'	143	(31)
`A Tower of Strength and Wisdom'	174	(28)
`We Had Awakened and Become a Nation'	202	(9)
Part III -- Departures
`Dust. . . .'	211	(13)
`Flood . . .'	224	(21)
Epilogue	245	(6)
Afterword	251	(6)
Notes	257	(36)
Selected Bibliography	293	(10)
Index	303