Gertrude Bell reports on Mandate Mesopotamia and Arab nationalism

Bell, Gertrude. Review Of The Civil Administration Of Mesopotamia (Cmd 1061).

€ 2,500.00

An uncommon account of the tumultuous early years of British occupation of Mesopotamia and what is now Iraq, its preparation entrusted to "Miss Gertrude L. Bell, C.B.E.".

Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) was a traveller, political actor, and archaeologist who was a key player in the nation-building after World War I, especially in Iraq. She founded the Iraq Museum, translated Persian poetry, and advised the British government's foreign policy at nearly the highest level. It is little surprise that she would have been called upon to write up a report of this nature, as she had extensive first-hand knowledge of the various tribes, sheikhdoms, and warring states of the region.

As described in the header of the report, the text "gives an account of the Civil Administrator of Mesopotamia during the British military occupation, that is to say, down to the summer of the present year when, a mandate for Mesopotamia having been accepted by Great Britain, steps were being taken for the early establishment of an Arab government". Indeed, this important document traces the first years of what would become the modern Arab world, noting minute shifts of power, allegiences, and nationalist sentiment across the British Mandate area.

Light external wear, well preserved.