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Guerrilla Leader: T. E. Lawrence and the Arab Revolt
Reclaiming T. E. Lawrence from hype and legend, James J. Schneider offers a startling reexamination of this leader’s critical role in shaping the modern Middle East. Just how did this obscure British junior intelligence officer, unschooled in the art of war, become “Lawrence of Arabia” and inspire a loosely affiliated cluster of desert tribes to band together in an all-or-nothing insurgency against their Turkish overlords? The answers have profound implications for our time as well, as a new generation of revolutionaries pulls pages from Lawrence’s playbook of irregular warfare.Blowing up trains and harassing supply lines with dynamite and audacity, Lawrence drove the mighty armies of the Ottoman Turks to distraction and brought the Arabs to the brink of self-determination. But his success hinged on more than just innovative As he immersed himself in Arab culture, Lawrence learned that a traditional Western-style hierarchical command structure could not work in a tribal system where warriors lead not only an army but an entire community. Weaving quotations from Lawrence’s own writings with the histories of his greatest campaigns, Schneider shows how this stranger in a strange land evolved over time into the model of the self-reflective, enabling leader who eschews glory for himself but instead seeks to empower his followers. Guerrilla Leader also offers a valuable analysis of Lawrence’s innovative theories of insurgency and their relevance to the ongoing turmoil in the Middle East.This exhaustively researched book also provides a detailed account of the Arab revolt, from the stunning assault on the port city of Aqaba to the bloody, Pyrrhic victory at Tafileh, the only set-piece battle Lawrence fought during the Great Arab Revolt. Lawrence emerged from the latter experience physically and mentally drained, incapable of continuing as a military commander, and, Schneider asserts, in the early stages of the post-traumatic stress disorder that would bedevil him for the rest of his life. The author then carries the narrative forward to the final slaughter of the Turks at Tafas and the Arabs’ ultimate victory at Damascus.With insights into Lawrence’s views on discipline, his fear of failure, and his enduring influence on military leadership in the twenty-first century, Guerrilla Leader is a bracingly fresh take on one of the great subjects of the modern era.Foreward by Pulitzer Prize winner Thomas E. Ricks
459 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 8, 2011
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Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
December 5, 2011
Have you seen the movie, "Lawrence of Arabia"? If so, this book will be a nice framework from which to evaluate the screen epic. And, if you have not seen the movie, this will stand on its own as a useful analysis of this enigmatic warrior.
Lawrence was in the employ of England. Through a series of circumstances, he began to work for the British with Arabs, trying to undermine the Turks and their German partners. This is a story of that effort, featuring guerilla warfare and tactics used by Arabs to befuddle the Turkish troops.
It is also a work that focuses on Lawrence's quirky personality. The book, perhaps, romanticizes Lawrence and may be a bit generous in its evaluation of his work, but it, nonetheless, provides ample background on his exploits, his motivation, and his internal conflicts. He understands that the English are using the Arabs, whereas he wishes the Arabs to have their own land. He also suffered (and this seems reasonable) from post traumatic stress syndrome.
At any rate, this work is a nice examination of "Lawrence of Arabia." It is not perfect, but it is a good analysis of a complex person.
Lawrence was in the employ of England. Through a series of circumstances, he began to work for the British with Arabs, trying to undermine the Turks and their German partners. This is a story of that effort, featuring guerilla warfare and tactics used by Arabs to befuddle the Turkish troops.
It is also a work that focuses on Lawrence's quirky personality. The book, perhaps, romanticizes Lawrence and may be a bit generous in its evaluation of his work, but it, nonetheless, provides ample background on his exploits, his motivation, and his internal conflicts. He understands that the English are using the Arabs, whereas he wishes the Arabs to have their own land. He also suffered (and this seems reasonable) from post traumatic stress syndrome.
At any rate, this work is a nice examination of "Lawrence of Arabia." It is not perfect, but it is a good analysis of a complex person.
September 26, 2014
A pretty good book on the Arab Revolt, with a focus on Lawrence’s evolution as a combat leader and guerrilla warrior. The book discusses leadership principles as learned and applied by Lawrence, and his realization that a conventional Western-style war could not be waged in Arabia and different methods had to be employed instead, especially the principle of personal leadership.
We also see how Lawrence grew to learn about and appreciate Arab culture through a series of mentors and schools like Oxford (although Schneider seems to lose his train of thought and annoyingly goes on and on about how great and unique an institution Oxford is).
Oddly, upon perusing the bibliography, it seems that Schneider used only five or so sources and relies almost solely on Lawrence’s memoirs. Also, Schneider seems to be heavily biased in Lawrence’s favor, but perhaps this is inevitable with such a compelling and interesting figure. Schneider’s Lawrence comes across as mythical and larger than life.
Schneider’s writing is for the most part pretty good, although he sometimes indulges in cringe-worthy phrasing like "[the enemy began] transforming themselves into serried blocks of khaki flesh," and "when night and day in dreamlike struggle create the dawn." Or "To a fever-addled mind, time means nothing. All sense of it is lost; there is no temporal duration, only an unendurable pounding in the temporal lobes. Dream's nighttime domain and reason's daylight abode trespass each other. Both dance together in an awkward, heated embrace where human reason succumbs to a siren's dream of past images and remembering. All cast up in a silent fog of ambivalence, hope, and regret: the Lawrence family secret of his bastard birth, the Arab uprising, the death of two beloved brothers in a combat on the western front - and more. For several days, the fevered ballet in Lawrence's head continued, mere shadows cast by a real struggle in his febrile body."
Also, Schneider looks at Lawrence’s early life solely as a preparation for his combat leadership, which works as a literary approach, I suppose, but is probably misleading. Schneider also writes that Lawrence had to build up the Arabs’ military capabilities from scratch: “The Arabs had no military institutions, no state institutions to speak of. They were still a nation of tribes. The institutional blocks would have to be hewn slowly with Lawrence's razor-edged mind, slab by slab, brick by brick, and integrated into a coherent whole, cemented by leadership." But Lawrence himself noted the Arabs’ military culture; he simply adapted to it and manipulated it to his ends.
Schneider also often writes of Lawrence’s “survivor’s guilt” (for outliving his brothers) and that it contributed to his own guilt over his deception of the Arabs in promising them an independent Arab state free of foreign influence. This doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I don’t think Schneider did a good job of backing up this conclusion, or even of making sense out of it.
Still, a pretty good book. Schneider is good at covering Lawrence’s evolution as a guerrilla warrior, the history of the Arab revolt and the interplay between the various factions, and the unique conditions of the Middle Eastern theater.
We also see how Lawrence grew to learn about and appreciate Arab culture through a series of mentors and schools like Oxford (although Schneider seems to lose his train of thought and annoyingly goes on and on about how great and unique an institution Oxford is).
Oddly, upon perusing the bibliography, it seems that Schneider used only five or so sources and relies almost solely on Lawrence’s memoirs. Also, Schneider seems to be heavily biased in Lawrence’s favor, but perhaps this is inevitable with such a compelling and interesting figure. Schneider’s Lawrence comes across as mythical and larger than life.
Schneider’s writing is for the most part pretty good, although he sometimes indulges in cringe-worthy phrasing like "[the enemy began] transforming themselves into serried blocks of khaki flesh," and "when night and day in dreamlike struggle create the dawn." Or "To a fever-addled mind, time means nothing. All sense of it is lost; there is no temporal duration, only an unendurable pounding in the temporal lobes. Dream's nighttime domain and reason's daylight abode trespass each other. Both dance together in an awkward, heated embrace where human reason succumbs to a siren's dream of past images and remembering. All cast up in a silent fog of ambivalence, hope, and regret: the Lawrence family secret of his bastard birth, the Arab uprising, the death of two beloved brothers in a combat on the western front - and more. For several days, the fevered ballet in Lawrence's head continued, mere shadows cast by a real struggle in his febrile body."
Also, Schneider looks at Lawrence’s early life solely as a preparation for his combat leadership, which works as a literary approach, I suppose, but is probably misleading. Schneider also writes that Lawrence had to build up the Arabs’ military capabilities from scratch: “The Arabs had no military institutions, no state institutions to speak of. They were still a nation of tribes. The institutional blocks would have to be hewn slowly with Lawrence's razor-edged mind, slab by slab, brick by brick, and integrated into a coherent whole, cemented by leadership." But Lawrence himself noted the Arabs’ military culture; he simply adapted to it and manipulated it to his ends.
Schneider also often writes of Lawrence’s “survivor’s guilt” (for outliving his brothers) and that it contributed to his own guilt over his deception of the Arabs in promising them an independent Arab state free of foreign influence. This doesn’t make a lot of sense, and I don’t think Schneider did a good job of backing up this conclusion, or even of making sense out of it.
Still, a pretty good book. Schneider is good at covering Lawrence’s evolution as a guerrilla warrior, the history of the Arab revolt and the interplay between the various factions, and the unique conditions of the Middle Eastern theater.
January 19, 2012
This book covers the leadership style, the strategy, the tactics and operations of T.E Lawrence. The book describes in detail the planning, thinking and execution of these operation during the Arab revolt. One of the most intriguing things in the book was Lawrence's ability as an outsider, to build unity among the tribes so they worked towards a common goal. this just fascinates me as today the possibility of this seems so remote if not impossible. I know there is much written on T.E Lawrence and you may be saying "come on! another one on Lawrence of Arabia" but if a deeper insight into his actual abilities as a leader, strategist and tactician is what your after I highly recommend this book.
June 4, 2023
There are so many players and so many places that are not ‘common’ to western readers that the book would vastly benefit from more maps and also diagrams that explain the relationships between the major players and their tribe allegiances. At times I find myself ‘reading the words but not really knowing what’s going on’.
February 4, 2025
While useful in providing insights into the thoughts and psyche of T.E. Lawrence, the author gets lost in mundane and excessive detail. Schneider repeatedly loses any sense of why Lawrence of Arabia became such a hallowed figure. Reading this book with no knowledge of who Lawrence was, a person would never guess as to his having any important place in history.
December 25, 2020
SAMS
The book looks at the exploits of T.E.L through a military planner’s lens. Very insightful. The book is well researched and an easy read. Recommended for my planner friends.
The book looks at the exploits of T.E.L through a military planner’s lens. Very insightful. The book is well researched and an easy read. Recommended for my planner friends.
August 29, 2014
I actually began Schneider’s book on Lawrence before I started and completed Scott Anderson’s new book LAWRENCE IN ARABIA. The difference between the books is quite striking with Anderson’s book the more readable and entertaining of the two. Schneider’s language is often frustratingly dull. Schneider book is an attempts to focus a book on leadership with emphasis on military leadership skills. His primary and maybe only source is Lawrence’s own SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM. In the acknowledgments section Schneider pays tribute to John E. Mack’s Pulitzer Prize winning biography, A PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER. Schneider had several personal conversations with Mack. (Schneider also mentions attending a conference conducted by the T.E. LAWRENCE SOCIETY where he…” meet with leading experts on Lawrence, including Jeremy Wilson, Malcolm Brown and others”. )
GUERRILLA LEADER began as a project to improve instruction at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies. Schneider says he thought T.E. Lawrence would make a perfect “poster child for the kind of officer education I had envisioned.” I cannot say if Schneider has been successful in helping his targeted audience for his book but the books emphasis leaves one to wonder why read it vs. any number of excellent Lawrence Biographies or just go straight to Mack’s excellent A PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER.
It has been noted that Schneider’s footnotes are mostly from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I did not mind this as it gives the reader an interesting way to organize (or reorganize) Lawrence’s text and emphasis. Schneider points out that in combat troops prefer competent leadership over an incompetent “saint”. They want their leader to insure they get through a battle alive. He calls Lawrence an “autonomous leader”…. This being someone who seeks respect rather than reputation and understands self-respect is meaningful while self-reputations makes no sense.
Here is an interesting paradox in considering recent writings on Lawrence. Did Lawrence set out to be a hero gaining satisfaction from the adulation of others or was he an autonomous leader making others feel good about themselves? I think it was a powerful perspective in Mack’s PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER where Mack called Lawrence the great enabler. Schneider seems to echo that view too saying the best leaders, like Lawrence, are expert learners who become expert teachers. (In my short Army career I don’t recall ever meeting a senior officer who demonstrated any interest in being an expert learner or teacher.)
It is interesting that Schneider seems to be the first before Anderson to suggest that Lawrence had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the war. In my review of Anderson’s book I took issue with this diagnosis and do so again here. I think my major complaint with this term is the authors tend to brand Lawrence’s post war work as insignificant and see it as a retreat from reality. Imposing on Lawrence a reality not his own. In Thomas Rick’s forward he even goes too far as to say, “By age thirty one, Lawrence had made his great achievements, but psychologically was a dead man walking. The remaining seventeen years of his life were only a slow unraveling.” So dramatic and so untrue. The evidence for such a ridiculous statement is just available. Nowhere does Ricks, Schneider or even Anderson give any evidence for such a claim. Lawrence wrote extensive letters, wrote two books and published both, he translated books like the Odyssey, and designed boats (which became the forerunners to the famous P T Boats of World War II). Many biographers claim Lawrence’s accomplishments after the war exceeded those while in the War. There is no doubt Lawrence had a very unusual personality and acted different than society might expect. He wanted a private life away from celebrity.
Lawrence came back a hero… made popular mostly by Lowell Thomas’s stage shows….and Lawrence began at first to find he embrace celebrity only to find it not at all to his liking. But he ran from it only to become more of an enigma. In part I think because he always felt the class distinction and shame of being illegitimate and also the realization that his boy hood belief that Victorian Britain had a rightness about it. It was not Lawrence who became a dead man walking it was those colonialist who lost out to fragmented nationalism that found as Lawrence did…. There was no place for leadership that did not empower people to find their own way.
Back to Schneider’s book. It is interesting and perhaps the focus is okay for those looking for a military slant on Lawrence’s biography or want to study his leadership example.
GUERRILLA LEADER began as a project to improve instruction at the U.S. Army School of Advanced Military Studies. Schneider says he thought T.E. Lawrence would make a perfect “poster child for the kind of officer education I had envisioned.” I cannot say if Schneider has been successful in helping his targeted audience for his book but the books emphasis leaves one to wonder why read it vs. any number of excellent Lawrence Biographies or just go straight to Mack’s excellent A PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER.
It has been noted that Schneider’s footnotes are mostly from Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I did not mind this as it gives the reader an interesting way to organize (or reorganize) Lawrence’s text and emphasis. Schneider points out that in combat troops prefer competent leadership over an incompetent “saint”. They want their leader to insure they get through a battle alive. He calls Lawrence an “autonomous leader”…. This being someone who seeks respect rather than reputation and understands self-respect is meaningful while self-reputations makes no sense.
Here is an interesting paradox in considering recent writings on Lawrence. Did Lawrence set out to be a hero gaining satisfaction from the adulation of others or was he an autonomous leader making others feel good about themselves? I think it was a powerful perspective in Mack’s PRINCE OF OUR DISORDER where Mack called Lawrence the great enabler. Schneider seems to echo that view too saying the best leaders, like Lawrence, are expert learners who become expert teachers. (In my short Army career I don’t recall ever meeting a senior officer who demonstrated any interest in being an expert learner or teacher.)
It is interesting that Schneider seems to be the first before Anderson to suggest that Lawrence had Post Traumatic Stress Disorder after the war. In my review of Anderson’s book I took issue with this diagnosis and do so again here. I think my major complaint with this term is the authors tend to brand Lawrence’s post war work as insignificant and see it as a retreat from reality. Imposing on Lawrence a reality not his own. In Thomas Rick’s forward he even goes too far as to say, “By age thirty one, Lawrence had made his great achievements, but psychologically was a dead man walking. The remaining seventeen years of his life were only a slow unraveling.” So dramatic and so untrue. The evidence for such a ridiculous statement is just available. Nowhere does Ricks, Schneider or even Anderson give any evidence for such a claim. Lawrence wrote extensive letters, wrote two books and published both, he translated books like the Odyssey, and designed boats (which became the forerunners to the famous P T Boats of World War II). Many biographers claim Lawrence’s accomplishments after the war exceeded those while in the War. There is no doubt Lawrence had a very unusual personality and acted different than society might expect. He wanted a private life away from celebrity.
Lawrence came back a hero… made popular mostly by Lowell Thomas’s stage shows….and Lawrence began at first to find he embrace celebrity only to find it not at all to his liking. But he ran from it only to become more of an enigma. In part I think because he always felt the class distinction and shame of being illegitimate and also the realization that his boy hood belief that Victorian Britain had a rightness about it. It was not Lawrence who became a dead man walking it was those colonialist who lost out to fragmented nationalism that found as Lawrence did…. There was no place for leadership that did not empower people to find their own way.
Back to Schneider’s book. It is interesting and perhaps the focus is okay for those looking for a military slant on Lawrence’s biography or want to study his leadership example.
August 21, 2015
For those of us who've heard of (but not seen) the movie "Lawrence of Arabia," it might come as a bit of a surprise to learn that Lawrence was a real person. Thomas Edward Lawrence was an archaeologist and British intelligence officer who helped organize a rag-tag Arab revolt into the successful overthrow of the Ottoman Turks in 1918.
Unfortunately, this is *not* a biography of Lawrence. It is, instead and in part, a lesson on the principles of leadership as learned by Lawrence, using numerous numbered-lists of his evolving principles and relying heavily upon his own writings in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It discusses his realizations that a Western style of warfare would not work in the Arabic tribal culture, with its value on personal rather than aloof leadership. It also explains Lawrence's reliance on guerilla tactics where a more direct assault on the better armed and trained Turks would have been futile.
Even this might have been somewhat interesting to a larger audience if it were not for the fact that Mr. Schnieder is overly charmed with his subject and engages in too much 'hero-worship' of Lawrence and a few prominent figures of the rebellion. Under his pen they sometimes appear as almost mythical and larger than life actors in a great drama. Even worse is the frequently overwrought text, such as these gems from pages 64 and 65 of my advance copy: "[the enemy began] transforming themselves into serried blocks of khaki flesh," and "when night and day in dreamlike struggle create the dawn." (This kind of writing is sprinkled liberally throughout the book and my eyes became tired from rolling them so much.)
I kept waiting in vain for the book to get interesting (accounts of the skirmishes were the only sparks of life). So, if this book isn't for me, who MIGHT it be for? I would guess there could be fans of Lawrence who would be interested (although I wouldn't guarantee they'd like it). Perhaps professional soldiers, particularly if they have an interest in leadership and its qualities, because apparently Lawrence had a genius for it and there are obvious parallels with today's conflicts. Although I suspect those readers might be better off going directly to the source and skipping this one altogether.
Unfortunately, this is *not* a biography of Lawrence. It is, instead and in part, a lesson on the principles of leadership as learned by Lawrence, using numerous numbered-lists of his evolving principles and relying heavily upon his own writings in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It discusses his realizations that a Western style of warfare would not work in the Arabic tribal culture, with its value on personal rather than aloof leadership. It also explains Lawrence's reliance on guerilla tactics where a more direct assault on the better armed and trained Turks would have been futile.
Even this might have been somewhat interesting to a larger audience if it were not for the fact that Mr. Schnieder is overly charmed with his subject and engages in too much 'hero-worship' of Lawrence and a few prominent figures of the rebellion. Under his pen they sometimes appear as almost mythical and larger than life actors in a great drama. Even worse is the frequently overwrought text, such as these gems from pages 64 and 65 of my advance copy: "[the enemy began] transforming themselves into serried blocks of khaki flesh," and "when night and day in dreamlike struggle create the dawn." (This kind of writing is sprinkled liberally throughout the book and my eyes became tired from rolling them so much.)
I kept waiting in vain for the book to get interesting (accounts of the skirmishes were the only sparks of life). So, if this book isn't for me, who MIGHT it be for? I would guess there could be fans of Lawrence who would be interested (although I wouldn't guarantee they'd like it). Perhaps professional soldiers, particularly if they have an interest in leadership and its qualities, because apparently Lawrence had a genius for it and there are obvious parallels with today's conflicts. Although I suspect those readers might be better off going directly to the source and skipping this one altogether.
October 12, 2011
This book is written in part, in a scholarly tone, which can come across a bit dry. On the whole, it is a quite interesting look at Lawrence and the Arab Revolt. The book gives both a wide view of the events and a detailed look at the man who would help found a nation while loosing himself.
This is a very in depth look at the life and times of T. E. Lawrence, the famed Englishman who would become known as Lawrence of Arabia. During World War I, Lawrence helped lead the Arabs of the Middle East in the fight against the Turks. As an officer in the British Army he was skilled in linguistics, military history and tactics. He had a personal dream of uniting the Arab tribes into a national force. The prevailing Western plan for the Middle East was to divide it up into zones of influence ruled by European interests. Lawrence was constantly torn between his duty as a British soldier and his dream to unite the Arabs under their own leadership. The book recounts his efforts through more than two years of guerrilla warfare to unite the many divided tribes. It details many of the battles Lawrence participated in against the Turks as well as the constant battles he had to establish and maintain a semblance of unity among the disparate Arab tribes. The Arab fighting was a form of guerrilla warfare with Lawrence trying to pick the times and places to use his limited forces to gain superiority and then slipping into the vast desolate landscape to regroup. The author discusses the effects of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) on Lawrence. While this was not a recognized diagnosis at the time, many soldiers would be relieved from duty during the war for being shell shocked. The author makes a good argument using the available facts to support his case for PTSD.
This is a very in depth look at the life and times of T. E. Lawrence, the famed Englishman who would become known as Lawrence of Arabia. During World War I, Lawrence helped lead the Arabs of the Middle East in the fight against the Turks. As an officer in the British Army he was skilled in linguistics, military history and tactics. He had a personal dream of uniting the Arab tribes into a national force. The prevailing Western plan for the Middle East was to divide it up into zones of influence ruled by European interests. Lawrence was constantly torn between his duty as a British soldier and his dream to unite the Arabs under their own leadership. The book recounts his efforts through more than two years of guerrilla warfare to unite the many divided tribes. It details many of the battles Lawrence participated in against the Turks as well as the constant battles he had to establish and maintain a semblance of unity among the disparate Arab tribes. The Arab fighting was a form of guerrilla warfare with Lawrence trying to pick the times and places to use his limited forces to gain superiority and then slipping into the vast desolate landscape to regroup. The author discusses the effects of PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) on Lawrence. While this was not a recognized diagnosis at the time, many soldiers would be relieved from duty during the war for being shell shocked. The author makes a good argument using the available facts to support his case for PTSD.
July 22, 2014
A great book with a surprising literary quality about the writing despite the material. Lawrence is treated with great respect for his intellectual genius and physycal endurance whithout ignoring the mental struggles over moral issues and personal phobias.
The Arabian characters were made life size and three dimensional but I would recommend thoroughly reviewing the book's initial "Cast of Characters" as the names are somewhat confusing to Western sensibilities.
The Arabian characters were made life size and three dimensional but I would recommend thoroughly reviewing the book's initial "Cast of Characters" as the names are somewhat confusing to Western sensibilities.
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August 23, 2018If you wNt to get into strategy, this has it. It is a little too detailed for what I was looking for. Also, it is told with a pro-British perspective and does not really address the Arab perspective. Good information overall.
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