Archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, mountaineer and nation builder, Gertrude Bell was born in 1868 into a world of privilege and plenty. This title presents her story. It is a portrait of a woman who transcended the restrictions of her class and age and in so doing created a remarkable and enduring legacy.

She has been called the female Lawrence of Arabia, which, while not inaccurate, fails to give Gertrude Bell her due. She was at one time the most powerful woman in the British Empire: a nation builder, the driving force behind the creation of modern-day Iraq. Born into privilege in 1868, Bell turned her back on Victorian society, choosing to read history at Oxford and going on to become an archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, author, poet, photographer, and mountaineer. She traveled the globe several times, but her passion was the desert--her vast knowledge of the region made her indispensable to the British government during World War I. As an army major on the front lines in Mesopotamia, she supported the creation of an autonomous Arab nation for Iraq, promoting and manipulating the election of King Faisal to the throne and helping to draw the borders of the fledgling state.--From publisher description.A biography of Gertrude Bell describes how she transcended the restrictions of her gender, class, and era to become a renowned world traveler, archaeologist, spy, Arabist, linguist, and author, and played a key role in the history of the Middle East.

The English and American archives of 'Vogue' magazine have been raided to produce this volume of beautiful and stylish women of character. Photographed as icons of their time, they reveal not only our aspirations but relate the changing role of women over eight decades.

A first retrospective on the photographer's nearly fifty-year career is published to accompany a major exhibition and includes fashion shots for Vogue, pictures of noted artists, portraits of the royal family, and photographs of the lonely and disadvantaged.

Describes how the late princess was able to express herself freely, through her clothes and style, while living in her world of silence and obligation in the royal family. (view table of contents)

Product Description: In Vogue 75 years of Style