Gertrude Bell's 1907 work Syria, The Desert and the Sown is travel literature of the highest order. She wanted to tell the stories of the people she met on her tremendous adventure through an often-misunderstood land. She found the inhabitants of Syria diverse and incredibly accepting of such diversity. One man could walk down the street veiled, while another could be almost entirely unclothed, and neither would cause an uproar. Her observations are, perhaps, unbelievable to modern readers, making her book as much a window in time as it is a thrilling adventure. Readers familiar with the history of T.E. Lawrence and his Arabian adventures will find Bell's tales of equal value and interest. Students of history will find her catalog of Syrian life and customs a valuable firsthand account. British writer GERTRUDE LOWTHIAN BELL (1868-1926) was a powerful force in Arabia in the early 20th century. Along with T.E. Lawrence, she helped establish the Hashimite dynasty in Jordan and Iraq. She traveled widely, especially in the Middle East, and spoke a number of languages. During her life she published only a handful of books, including Persian Pictures (1894) and Hafiz Poems (1897).

Syria, the Desert and the Sown

Travel

Bell, Gertrude L.

Travel Writing

Cosimo Classics

Published in 1909 and long out of print, The Thousand and One Churches remains a seminal study of the postclassical monuments of Anatolia. Now a new generation of readers can learn of the extensive remains of the sprawling early Christian site known as Binbirkilise ("Thousand and One Churches," near Konya), excavated by Ramsay and Bell in 1907. The book provides extensive analysis of other early Christian and Byzantine sites across Anatolia that Bell visited at that time. Because many of the monuments have long since disappeared, this documentation is now invaluable, and Bell's extensive photographs provide a unique view of travel and archaeology more than a century ago.
For this new edition more than 250 high-quality digitized images from the Gertrude Bell Archive at Newcastle University (UK) replace the original illustrations, and the editors' Foreword lays out the historical and cultural context for the undertaking. Ousterhout and Jackson recount the lives and careers of the two authors and the tale of their collaboration on the excavation and subsequent book.
Publication of this volume was supported by a grant from the Joukowsky Family Foundation.

The Thousand and One Churches

Politics & Social Sciences

Ramsay, William M.

Archaeology

University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology

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Books by Bell, Gertrude L.