JANET WALLACH

The definitive biography, mesmerizing and richly textured (Chicago Tribune), that inspired the acclaimed documentary, Letters from Baghdad. With a new Afterword "Desert Queen...plucks Gertrude Bell out of the shadow of Lawrence of Arabia." The Boston GlobeHere is the story of Gertrude Bell, who explored, mapped, and excavated the Arab world throughout the early twentieth century. Recruited by British intelligence during World War I, she played a crucial role in obtaining the loyalty of Arab leaders, and her connections and information provided the brains to match T. E. Lawrences brawn. After the war, she played a major role in creating the modern Middle East and was, at the time, considered the most powerful woman in the British Empire. In this masterful biography, Janet Wallach shows us the woman behind these achievementsa woman whose passion and defiant independence were at odds with the confined and custom-bound England she left behind. Too long eclipsed by Lawrence, Gertrude Bell emerges at last in her own right as a vital player on the stage of modern history, and as a woman whose life was both a heartbreaking story and a grand adventure.

The life of Gertrude Bell is now the subject of the major motion picture Queen of the Desert, starring Nicole Kidman, James Franco and Damian LewisTurning away from privileged Victorian Britain, Gertrude Bell explored, mapped and excavated the world of the Arabs, winning the trust of Arab sheiks and chieftains along the way. When the First World War erupted and the British needed the loyalty of Arab leaders, Gertrude Bell provided the intelligence for T.E. Lawrences military activities. After the war, she played a major role in creating the modern Middle East, and was generally considered the most powerful woman in the British Empire.In this major reassessment of Bells life, Janet Wallach reveals a woman whose achievements and independent spirit were especially remarkable for her times, and who brought the same passion and intensity to her explorations as she did to her rich and romantic life.

A NEW YORK TIMES EDITORS CHOICE"A compelling story that pulsates with the energy of a thriller"—The Wall Street Journal"Suspense, élan and a generous helping of glamour: Think George Smiley in a mink

No woman in the Gilded Age made as much money as Hetty Green. Now the acclaimed author of Desert Queen delivers the definitive biography of Americas first female tycoon, an investment pioneer who matched her male counterparts in ambition and guile, and never backed down from a fight. Filled with colorful historical details of an economic time that eerily parallels our own. San Francisco ChronicleHetty Green was a strong woman who forged her own path, she was worth at least $100 million by the end of her life in 1916equal to about $2.5 billion today.Green was mocked for her simple Quaker ways and her unfashionable frugality in an era of opulence and excess; the press even nicknamed her The Witch of Wall Street. But those who knew her admired her wit and wisdom, and while financiers around her rose and fell as financial bubbles burst, she steadily amassed a fortune that supported businesses, churches, municipalities, and even the city of New York. Janet Wallachs engrossing biography reveals striking parallels between past financial crises and current recession woes, and speaks not only to history buffs but to todays investors, who just might learn a thing or two from Hetty Green.