The Desert and the Sown

Paperback / softback

Main Details

Title The Desert and the Sown
Authors and Contributors      By (author) Gertrude Lowthian Bell
SeriesCambridge Library Collection - Travel, Middle East and Asia Minor
Physical Properties
Format:Paperback / softback
Pages:376
Dimensions(mm): Height 216,Width 140
Category/GenreClassic travel writing
ISBN/Barcode 9781108021593
ClassificationsDewey:915.691043
Audience
Postgraduate, Research & Scholarly
Illustrations 1 Plates, color; 1 Maps; 161 Halftones, black and white

Publishing Details

Publisher Cambridge University Press
Imprint Cambridge University Press
Publication Date 28 October 2010
Publication Country United Kingdom

Description

Athletic, intellectual and sensitive, even in her youth, Gertrude Bell was an ideal chronicler for a public fascinated by the Orient. Blending descriptions of customs, communities, archaeology, agriculture, The Desert and the Sown (1907) recounts a dramatic portion of her expedition across Syria. Enriched by over three hundred photographic illustrations, Bell's prose leads readers from the Mosque of 'Umar to the shores of the Dead Sea, the Castle of Salkhad and the dramatic landmarks of Kanawat. Notwithstanding the inclusion of such picturesque sites, the author never allows the spectacular to overshadow the significant. As she herself professed, her narrative contains frequent references to the 'conditions of unimportant persons', arguing that 'they do not appear so unimportant to one who is in their midst'. As such, this volume reflects a compassionate and respectful attitude to other civilizations, the implications of which are as significant today as they were to Bell's contemporaries.