The Incredible Gertrude Bell
Gertrude Bell was one of the most amazing people about whom you probably know very little. Although she is mentioned in all of the standard Churchill biographies as being one of those who advised the Colonial Secretary during the seminal 1921 Cairo Conference, she become overshadowed in history by one of the other advisers Churchill had with him, T. E. Lawrence.
Undoubtedly, Hollywood is partly to blame. In her own time, Bell was much better known than Lawrence. That started to change in early 1920, when American journalist Lowell Thomas launched his retooled live presentation With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia, making the enigmatic Lawrence the star of the show. The legend was born.
Forty years later, the legend of Lawrence eclipsed all but Churchill among his contemporaries with the spectacular success of David Lean’s 1962 Oscar-winning film . Only in 2015 did Hollywood get around to making a movie about Bell. It flopped. Despite having a first-rate cast featuring Nicole Kidman in the lead, a generous sank so quickly that few ever knew it existed. Bell deserved better.
