Description
Lawrence of Arabia, as adviser to Prince Feisal, led camel-riding Bedouin in a guerrilla war against Turkey from Arabia to Damascus. The great British hero of World War I, he helped Winston Churchill draw the map of the modern Middle East, creating Jordan and making Feisal king of Iraq. Then, in 1922, he shed the rank of colonel and his name to serve as a private in the Royal Air Force until shortly before his death in 1935 at age 46. Lawrence has been characterized as a man with extraordinary powers and as an imposter who manufactured his own legend.
This careful study, based on virtually all published and unpublished English-language sources, sides neither with Lawrence's eulogists nor with his denigrators. Presenting a fair, balanced picture of his life, it shows the lifelong continuity of his puzzling conduct: the often needless deviousness that troubled even close friends; the self-hatred and savage masochism that cursed his adult years.
About the Author
The late Harold Orlans contributed to Minerva, The American Scholar, Change, Biography, and The Journal of the T.E. Lawrence Society, and was the editor of Lawrence of Arabia, Strange Man of Letters, of which a reviewer said that he has "shown us..., better than in all the biographies, the pulsing heart of Lawrence." He lived in Bethesda, Maryland.
Reviews
"this well-written book provides an excellent summary of Lawrence's life"-Catholic Library World; "superior...meticulous research, clarity of writing...intellectually honest and balanced conclusions"-Military Heritage; "Closes a process of demystification and addresses squarely the darker struggles of Lawrence's life."-Claire Keith.
Book Information
ISBN 9780786413072
Author Harold Orlans
Format Paperback
Page Count 293
Imprint McFarland & Co Inc
Publisher McFarland & Co Inc
Weight(grams) 503g
Dimensions(mm) 254mm * 178mm * 15mm
