Review Gertrude Bell, The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II, Benediction Books, 2009

Bell, Gertrude, The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II, Benediction Books, 2009

 

The Letters of Gertrude Bell Volumes I and II collects together writings Ms Bell made to her family from 1874 until her death in 1926. It was put together and edited by her younger sister. Much of what Bell had to say was mundane such as commenting upon the hot weather in Iraq or asking for clothes to be sent from England. There are some insights into her strong character which set her apart from many of her contemporaries and her ideas about Iraq when it was formed by the British.

 

The first thing that stands out about the collection was that Bell came from a Nouveau riche family. Her father made a fortune during the industrial revolution and Bell benefited greatly from it. Her early letters are about travelling to visit family and friends and going to posh parties. She never had to worry about work or money and that wealth allowed her to go around the world.

 

Second Bell’s travels highlighted that she was very determined and would not take no for an answer. In 1899 for instance she travelled to the Middle East to see antiquities such as Crusader castles. An Ottoman mayor told her she couldn’t go to Damascus so she found some Druze who took her there anyway. Several times she went mountaineering in Switzerland and was the first to take certain routes around major peaks showing her personal strength. This was what set her apart from her time where women of her status were expected to get married and start a family. Instead she was going where few Westerners had gone before.

 

When it comes to Iraq she expressed two main opinions in her letters. The first was that she believed Iraqis wanted the British to rule over them. She said this several times that the British were accepted because they knew the customs of the land. She was shocked when the 1920 Revolt began and tribes across the country rose up against the UK. Second, she dismissed the Shiite majority. She called the Shiite clergy worthless and anachronisms and didn’t think they should have any role in the country. This was because they were against the British running the country. It shows how Bell’s ideas about Iraq were contradictory. Iraqis couldn’t want the UK to run their country if the majority were Shiites and followed the clergy who were anti-British. That didn’t matter to her because she was trying to justify her imperialist views.

 

At over 700 pages The Letter of Gertrude Bell is really only for researchers. So much of Bell’s writing is about her general life, family and friends. Her travels however are very interesting as she went all across the Middle East and Turkey several times meeting various tribes and notables. The last third is about World War I when she went to work for the British government and then the creation of Iraq. You get a real sense of what an iconoclast she was. It’s no wonder she was the only woman to be employed by London as a major advisor on the Middle East.

 

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