The Arab of Mesopotamia.

One of Bell's most intriguing and enlightening works on Arabia and Iraq. Described in Bell's own words as a 'tribal geography', and published anonymously, the work is split into two parts: the first containing ten essays on Eastern Arabia and the tribes and Sheiks of the region, the second titled "Asiatic Turkey" which largely deals with Ottoman occupied Iraq, Syria, and Kurdistan, as well as the Anatolian provinces. She also touches on her views on Palestine and Zionism, written just before the Balfour Declaration, and iterates her belief that Palestine is unsuitable as the location for a Jewish state and that Jerusalem should never be dominated by one of the three faiths to which it is sacred. Bell's name is only attached to the second part, and led many British commentators to assume other, male, authors had written the preceding essays, much to her amusement.

On the back of her travels in Arabia in 1913, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) was summoned in 1915 to be part of the famous Arab Bureau in Cairo and colleague to T.E. Lawrence. She was quickly posted to Basra as liaison between the Arab Bureau and the British Indian Government headed by Lord Hardinge, a close family friend. Between 1916 and 1918 Bell served in Mesopotamia under Percy Cox as the only female political officer in the British forces, and spent her time between Baghdad and Basra producing maps and reports, some of which are contained in this volume. She would go on to be an influential part in the establishment of Iraq as an independent state, with her views clearly starting to take form in this work.

Despite intending to be a guide to British officials to better acquaint themselves with Iraq and the culture and customs of Arabia, her thoughts on the subjects she touches on shine through. She clearly saw that underneath Ottoman rule the Sheikhs were given wide powers and a great deal of autonomy as long as they paid their dues to the Ottoman Empire. This was in opposition to the structures Britain used in India and she saw that the same strong-handed treatment would not be tolerated in Iraq, as she was proven right in 1920 with the Iraqi Revolt. Modern criticisms have also pointed to her opinions on Kurdistan which no doubt stem from her lesser familiarity with the region than the country south of Baghdad, and treats it more as an ancient undefinable region similar to Armenia as opposed to distinct 'modern' nations like Syria and Arabia.

First edition. 12mo, 193 pp., lithographed map, original green cloth gilt, light wear, a very good copy.

Robinson p. 4.