Am I just completely uneducated that I had no idea who this woman was before my aunt mentioned reading this book? Do other people recognize the name of Gertrude Bell? Well, we should! What an amazing woman: rock climber, archaeologist, explorer, writer, and major contributor to the establishment of an Iraqi government!

Her love life saddened me, both as an unfortunate situation for her (to fall in love with a married man) and as a horrible betrayal both on her part and the part of Doughty-Wylie (even if the relationship was never consummated, from a wife's perspective, still definitely cheating). But in every other way, she fascinated me and amazed me. Read about her. She's incredible.

Oh, and I loved that the author quoted both Bell and her contemporaries' thoughts about Bell so much. I admit I was a tad lost on all the tribes and people that she met, but the author did her best to keep me straight on them all and I certainly could follow the most important people in her life, so that was good enough. Fantastic biography!