Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

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The title comes from the Book of Proverbs; [3] "Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars" ( Proverbs 9:1) ( King James Version). Before the First World War, Lawrence had begun work on a scholarly book about seven great cities of the Middle East, [a] to be called Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It was incomplete when war broke out and Lawrence stated that he destroyed the manuscript. He used his original title for the later work. Brown (1988) letters to E. M. Forster, 21Dec 1927; Robert Graves, 6Nov 1928; F. L. Lucas, 26March 1929.

Wilson does not exaggerate Lawrence's achievements as an archaeologist, which were modest though very real, nor his wartime exploits which other authors treat either as the stuff of legend or the subject of sneering. By comparing Lawrence's official reports and private writings with Seven Pillars, he makes a strong case that Seven Pillars of Wisdom was mostly truthful in its account of the Arab Revolt. He adds, however, that Lawrence downplayed events he didn't personally experience (his emphasis on the Arabs over Allenby's regular army), depicted individuals like Emir Faisal or his French colleague Bremond to conform to his agenda, and embellished incidents he struggled to process (his assault at Deraa, or the execution of his servant Farraj). Nor does he follow Liddell Hart or others in declaring Lawrence a military genius (his campaigns were too small to warrant such claims), though his exploits as a guerrilla commander showed no small amount of courage or imagination. He shows that Lawrence's actions were driven by a mistaken belief that he could reconcile British interests and Arab nationalism, either not realizing or refusing to believe until the Paris Peace Conference that there was little room for compromise. The book had to be rewritten three times, once following the loss of the manuscript on a train at Reading railway station. From Seven Pillars, "...and then lost all but the Introduction and drafts of Books9 and 10 at Reading Station, while changing trains. This was about Christmas, 1919." (p.21) Axelrod, Alan (2009). Little-Known Wars of Great and Lasting Impact. Fair Winds. ISBN 978-1-61673-461-9.

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Thomas Edward Lawrence first set foot on the hot sands of Arabia in 1909. By 1918 there was a GBP20,000 price on his head. His journey to this point has long been legend. Carchidi, Victoria K. (1987). Creation Out of the Void: The making of a hero, an epic, a world: T. E. Lawrence. University of Pennsylvania – via University Microfilms International, Ann Arbor, MI. Seven Pillars of Wisdom" is a song by power metal group Sabaton about Lawrence, released in July 2019 on the album The Great War. Richard Meinertzhagen (1878–1967), British intelligence officer and ornithologist, on occasion a colleague of Lawrence's

At the Arab Bureau, Lawrence supervised the preparation of maps, [53] produced a daily bulletin for the British generals operating in the theatre, [54] and interviewed prisoners. [53] He was an advocate of a British landing at Alexandretta which never came to pass. [55] He was also a consistent advocate of an independent Arab Syria. [56] Ciampaglia, Giuseppe (2010). Quando Lawrence d'Arabia passò per Roma rompendosi l'osso del collo (in Italian). Rome: Strenna dei Romanisti, Roma Amor edit. a b Dudney, Robert S. (April 2012). "Lawrence of Airpower" (PDF). Air Force Magazine: 66–70. Archived (PDF) from the original on 10 October 2022. The Re-publication of The Wilderness of Zin". Palestine Exploration Fund. 18 October 2006. Archived from the original on 18 October 2006 . Retrieved 9 September 2012.Crucial to the Zionist effort was broadening its appeal to western policymakers, prominent among whom was a breed of well-heeled British romantics who floated around the Middle East offering solutions of breathtaking (and often contradictory) simplicity to problems that even now are considered intractable. The Yorkshire landowner Sir Mark Sykes was the nonpareil of these meddlesome amateurs; in 1916 he carved up the Middle East in a secret deal with France, only to propose an alliance of Jews, Arabs and Armenians that would freeze the French out. Sykes's Christian faith was cheered by the idea of a Jewish return to the Holy Land; he adopted Zionism and became an ally of Aaronsohn. It was Sykes who announced the British cabinet's decision to endorse a "Jewish national home" with the immortal words – to its future first president – "Dr Weizmann, it's a boy!" Lawrence's biographers have discussed his sexuality at considerable length and this discussion has spilled into the popular press. [210] There is no direct evidence for consensual sexual intimacy between Lawrence and any person. His friends have expressed the opinion that he was asexual, [211] [212] and Lawrence himself specifically denied any personal experience of sex in multiple private letters. [213] There were suggestions that Lawrence had been intimate with his companion Selim Ahmed, "Dahoum", who worked with him at a pre-war archaeological dig in Carchemish, [214] and fellow serviceman R. A. M. Guy, [215] but his biographers and contemporaries found them unconvincing. [214] [215] [216] Lawrence in Miranshah 1928

The Letters of T. E. Lawrence, selected and edited by Malcolm Brown. London, J. M Dent. 1988 ( ISBN 0-460-04733-7) James, Lawrence (2008). The Golden Warrior: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia. New York: Skyhorse Publishing. ISBN 978-1-60239-354-7. Of the biographies of Lawrence of Arabia, MacLean's, written in 1962 at the time of the film, must, I suppose, be seen as an attempt to capitalize on that frenzy. MacLean is better known today for his adventure novels, such as The Guns of Navarone and Where Eagles Dare. For my work on the Arab front I had determined to accept nothing. The cabinet raised the Arabs to fight for us by definite promises of self-government afterwards. Arabs believe in persons, not in institutions. They saw in me a free agent of the British government, and demanded from me an endorsement of its written promises. So I had to join the conspiracy, and, for what my word was worth, assured the men of their reward. In our two years' partnership under fire they grew accustomed to believing me and to think my government, like myself, sincere. In this hope they performed some fine things but, of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed. [192] The T. E. Lawrence Poems was published by Canadian poet Gwendolyn MacEwen in 1982. The poems rely on, and quote directly from, primary material including Seven Pillars and the collected letters. [270]

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The Lawrence story invites compelling questions. Why did British men of the period revel in the romance of the desert Arab? Did Allied treachery during the Revolt plant seeds of resentment that grew to shape the region? What did Lawrence think of the Sykes-Picot Agreement, which carved up the Middle East with such disastrous consequences? Was Lawrence actually a fraud? None of these issues are covered. But Fiennes’s book is a pleasant primer for readers who enjoy tales of adventure in the desert sands. Wilson, Jeremy (1989). Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorised Biography of T. E. Lawrence. London: William Heinemann. ISBN 978-0-434-87235-0.

An English Heritage blue plaque marks Lawrence's childhood home at 2 Polstead Road, Oxford, and another appears on his London home at 14 Barton Street, Westminster. [263] [264] In 2002, Lawrence was named 53rd in the BBC's list of the 100 Greatest Britons following a UK-wide vote. [265] Winston Churchill and T. E. Lawrence: a brilliant friendship". TheArticle. 7 November 2021 . Retrieved 5 November 2022.Lawrence's public image resulted in part from the sensationalised reporting of the Arab revolt by American journalist Lowell Thomas, as well as from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. On 19 May 1935, six days after being injured in a motorcycle accident in Dorset, Lawrence died at the age of 46. T. E. Lawrence Studies, built by Lawrence's authorised biographer Jeremy Wilson (no longer maintained) Lawrence was involved in the build-up to the capture of Damascus in the final weeks of the war, but he was not present at the city's formal surrender. He arrived several hours after the city had fallen, entering Damascus around 9am on 1 October 1918; the first to arrive was the 10th Light Horse Regiment led by Major A. C. N. "Harry" Olden, who accepted the formal surrender of the city from acting Governor Emir Said. [122] [123] Lawrence was instrumental in establishing a provisional Arab government under Faisal in newly liberated Damascus, which he had envisioned as the capital of an Arab state. [124] Faisal's rule as king, however, came to an abrupt end in 1920, after the battle of Maysaloun when the French Forces of General Henri Gouraud entered Damascus under the command of General Mariano Goybet, destroying Lawrence's dream of an independent Arabia. [125] Sydney Smith, Clare (1940). The Golden Reign – The story of my friendship with Lawrence of Arabia. London: Cassell & Company. p.16. A legend in his own lifetime, Lawrence's epic story has always been ripe for the retelling - but Ranulph Fiennes is no ordinary biographer . . . Having led Arab troops into battle on the Arabian peninsula in a war fought only fifty years later. Fiennes too discovered the wonders of these far-flung lands and the people who live there, and is one of very few who can claim a true insight into the kind of life that Lawrence lived - bold and adventurous to the end.