The Passionate Spies

How Gertrude Bell, St. John Philby, and Lawrence of Arabia Ignited the Arab Revolt—and How Saudi Arabia Was Founded.

This is the true story of how three British Secret Service agents from the Arab Bureau in Cairo helped General Edmund Allenby defeat Germany’s ally, the Turks, and end World War I. TE Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia. reignited a failing Arab Revolt by training and leading a guerrilla force of Arab irregulars to take the port of Aqaba on the Red Sea. The Passionate Spies details the forgotten nomadic life of the Bedouin tribes and their raiding parties; the founding of oil-rich Saudi Arabia led by King Ibn Saud; and his double-agent, the treacherous Major St. John Philby whom spymaster Major Gertrude Bell of the SIS had trained in spy-craft; as well as the critical moment that David Lean featured in his famous film in which young Captain Lawrence discovers a secret back door into the Turkish interior.

Experience the exciting adventure story of how these three British Intelligence officers rekindled the failed Arab Revolt, and also helped to found modern Saudi Arabia. Follow Lawrence of Arabia and the team of Middle Eastern specialists in British Intelligence—chosen by the new Colonial Secretary Winston Churchill in 1921—which included successful travel writer Gertrude Bell, who became the first female officer in Britain’s army.