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

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In his new book, Scott Anderson expands and contextualises the familiar Lawrence story – as his title, Lawrence in Arabia, suggests. Rather than depict a hero in isolation, he puts Lawrence alongside three spooks who rubbed shoulders with him in the Middle East: Aaron Aaronsohn, a Jewish colonist in Palestine, who spied for Britain as a way of furthering Zionism; Carl Prufer, a German diplomat who dreamed of fomenting jihad against the British; and William Yale, a well-connected oil man (his great-great-uncle founded Yale University) who became, in August 1917, the state department's "special agent" for the Middle East. Lawrence, T. E. (1935). Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Garden City, NY: Doubleday. ISBN 978-0-385-07015-7. There are many alleged "embellishments" in Seven Pillars, though some allegations have been disproved with time, most definitively in Jeremy Wilson's authorised biography. [187] However, Lawrence's own notebooks refute his claim to have crossed the Sinai Peninsula from Aqaba to the Suez Canal in just 49 hours without any sleep. In reality, this famous camel ride lasted for more than 70 hours and was interrupted by two long breaks for sleeping, which Lawrence omitted when he wrote his book. [188] Fraser, Giles (8 April 2016). "Lawrence of Arabia wouldn't have been surprised by the rise of Isis". The Guardian . Retrieved 7 June 2021.

Storrs, Ronald (1940). Lawrence of Arabia, Zionism and Palestine– via Internet Archive (archive.org). This house was the home of T. E. Lawrence (Lawrence of Arabia) from 1896–1921". Open Plaques. Retrieved 5 August 2012 Outline chronology: 1918 (Oct–Dec)". T. E. Lawrence Studies. Archived from the original on 5 June 2018 . Retrieved 24 November 2018.Matt Wells, media correspondent (22 August 2002). "The 100 greatest Britons: lots of pop, not so much circumstance | Media". The Guardian . Retrieved 20 April 2020.

Lawrence, T. E. (2003). Seven Pillars of Wisdom: The Complete 1922 Text. Castle Hill Press. ISBN 978-1-873141-39-7.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. Wilson, Jeremy. " Seven Pillars of Wisdom—Triumph and Tragedy". T. E. Lawrence Studies. Archived from the original on 17 May 2008 . Retrieved 17 July 2008. publ. date inferred from Firth, J.B. (29 July 1935). "How Lawrence of Arabia saw himself". The Observer (book review). London, UK. published this day .

Lawrence, T. E. "Introduction, Chapter1" (PDF). Seven Pillars of Wisdom. Archived (PDF) from the original on 23 August 2016.Wilson, Jeremy. "T. E. Lawrence, Seven Pillars of Wisdom: Publishing History". T. E. Lawrence Studies. Archived from the original on 2 May 2006 . Retrieved 17 July 2008. Lawrence had a sinister reputation in France during his lifetime and even today as an implacable "enemy of France", the man who was constantly stirring up the Syrians to rebel against French rule throughout the 1920s. [143] However, French historian Maurice Larès wrote that the real reason for France's problems in Syria was that the Syrians did not want to be ruled by France, and the French needed a scapegoat to blame for their difficulties in ruling the country. [144] Larès wrote that Lawrence is usually pictured in France as a Francophobe, but he was really a Francophile. [144] Lawrence, Emir Abdullah, Air Marshal Sir Geoffrey Salmond, Sir Wyndham Deedes, and others in Jerusalem 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 travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. [89] But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Lieutenant Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering. [90] Strategy [ edit ]