Desert Queen

Janet Wallach
Desert Queen

Janet Wallach is the author of
Seraglio
and
Chanel: Her Style and Her Life
, and coauthor, with her husband John Wallach, of three previous books on the Middle East:
The New Palestinians
;
Arafat: In the Eyes of the Beholder
; and
Still Small Voices: The Real Heroes of the Arab-Israeli Conflict.
She lives in New York City and Connecticut.

B
Y
J
ANET
W
ALLACH

Seraglio

Chanel: Her Style and Her Life

Desert Queen

Arafat: In the Eye of the Beholder

(
WITH
J
OHN
W
ALLACH
)

The New Palestinians

(
WITH
J
OHN
W
ALLACH
)

Still Small Voices:
The Real Heroes of the Arab-Israeli Conflict

(
WITH
J
OHN
W
ALLACH
)

Anchor Books Editions, July 1999, 2005

Copyright
©
1996, 2005 by Janet Wallach

All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. Published in the United States by Anchor Books, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, and simultaneously in Canada by Random House of Canada Limited, Toronto. Originally published in hardcover in the United States by Nan A. Talese, an imprint of Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc., New York, in 1996.

Anchor Books and colophon are registered trademarks of Random House, Inc.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Wallach, Janet.
Desert queen : the extraordinary life of Gertrude Bell, adventurer, adviser to kings, ally of Lawrence of Arabia / Janet Wallach. — 1st Anchor Books ed.
p.    cm.
Originally published: New York : Doubleday, 1996.
1. Bell, Gertrude Lowthian 1868–1926.   2. Women Orientalists—Biography.   3. Colonial administrators—Great Britain Biography.   4. Colonial administrators—Middle East Biography.   I. Title.
DS61.7.B37W35   1999
956′.02′092—dc21

[B]           99-24297

eISBN: 978-0-307-74436-4

www.anchorbooks.com

v3.1

To John, David and Michael,
who surround me with love

Contents

Cover

About the Author

Other Books by This Author

Title Page

Copyright

Dedication

Acknowledgments

Maps

Prologue

Part I
A Victorian

1
   O
F
G
REAT
AND
H
ONORED
S
TOCK

2
   A M
AN
’
S
W
ORLD

3
   A
N
I
LL
-F
ATED
M
ARRIAGE

4
   F
LIGHT

5
   F
IRST
S
TEPS
IN
THE
D
ESERT

6
   A D
IFFERENT
C
HALLENGE

7
   T
HE
D
ESERT
AND
THE
S
OWN

8
   W
OMEN’S
R
IGHTS

9
   L
AWRENCE

10
   D
ICK

11
   T
OWARD
H
AYIL

12
   P
RISONER
IN
A
RABIA

13
   R
UMBLINGS
OF
W
AR

P
HOTOS

14
   A T
RAGIC
E
ND

15
   E
SCAPE
TO
THE
E
AST

16
   A R
EMARKABLY
C
LEVER
W
OMAN

Part II
The Khatun

17
   A M
ESSY
S
ITUATION

18
   A
N
I
NDEPENDENT
W
OMAN

19
   B
AGHDAD

20
   D
ISARRAY

21
   P
ARIS
AND
THE
A
RAB
Q
UESTION

22
   T
HE
A
RAB
M
OOD

23
   A C
HANGE
OF
T
HINKING

24
   D
ESERT
S
TORMS

25
   A T
ASTE
OF
E
NGLAND

P
HOTOS

26
   T
HE
C
LASH

27
   A
N
U
NPLEASANT
V
ICTORY

28
   C
OX
R
ETURNS

29
   T
HE
C
AIRO
C
ONFERENCE

30
   R
ESISTANCE

31
   F
AISAL

32
   T
HE
K
ING

33
   K
EN

34
   F
AREWELL
TO
C
OX

35
   T
ROUBLES

36
   T
O
S
LEEP

Epilogue

Afterword to the Anchor Books Edition

The Hashemite Family of Sharif Hussein of Mecca

Glossary

Endnotes

Bibliography

Acknowledgments