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

Lukitz, Liora, A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq, I.B. Tauris, 2006

 

In A Quest in the Middle East, Gertrude Bell and the Making of Modern Iraq Liora Lukitz attempts to paint the personal and professional life of Gertrude Bell. The story constantly switches back and forth between those two aspects using her correspondence as a uniting factor. The author portrays Bell as a woman who fled the constraints of her upper class family in England for the adventure of the Middle East where she helped create the country of Iraq.

 

Lukitz’s opening sets up the entire story. She explains the state of the upper class in turn of the century England which believed in Pax Britannica and saw the Middle East as a place to make a name for themselves. Bell was part of a new elite with her father being a wealthy industrialist. She was headstrong, highly educated having gone to Oxford, and didn’t want to be a housewife. She also had a frustrated love life having fallen for a married man who worked for the government. The author believes that she wanted to escape her frustrations by heading East. These themes would be highlighted throughout the book.

 

The heart of A Quest in the Middle East is about Bell’s time in Iraq. When World War I started Bell was recruited into the British government since she had travelled extensively through the Middle East and written several books about it. The people she worked with were all headstrong and had their own opinions on what the UK should do with the Arabs from T.E. Lawrence who advocated for an independent Arab state to Sir Arnold Wilson who wanted much of the region annexed by England. That continued after the war when the English conquered Mesopotamia and turned it into the new country of Iraq. Bell became a confidant of King Faisal the nation’s new monarch.

 

Lukitz discussed several aspects of Bell’s ideas. For instance, she was opposed to the Shiite majority running Iraq because she feared they would create a theocracy since clerics were the main leaders of the community. She disagreed with the first High Commissioner of Iraq Sir Arnold Wilson who didn’t believe in giving Iraqis any real say in their government. Bell initially supported Arab nationalists who would run Iraq but then became increasingly angry with them because they demanded Iraqi independence. The author talked about how Bell always thought she was right but then didn’t always understand the implications of her decisions. Her suspicions of Shiites for example would help divide the country. The book does note that Bell was capable of changing her mind when presented with new evidence and did many times showing she wasn’t completely stubborn or an ideologue.

 

A Quest in the Middle East is a very literary book. Lukitz goes into depth describing the people and the settings like a novel which is a nice touch. The parts about Bell’s love life weren’t very appealing. She constantly pinned after men which only led to disappointments. Her political positions however were explained well and with nuance. It goes through her changing positions on Iraq for example. The biggest complaint is the end where it abruptly notes Bell’s passing with no real set up. Otherwise it’s an engaging read about a very unique woman who helped create a new country.

 

Link to all of Musings On Iraq’s book reviews listed by topic