A fierce explorer and archaeologist, lyrical writer and cunning politician, Gertrude Bell (1868-1926) spent much of her life traveling throughout present-day Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan & Israel. The Desert and the Sown, originally published in 1907, brims with enthusiasm and insight. The title of this classic account is taken from the Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam.  (MDE59, $12.95)