The Mint

by T.E. Lawrence

In 1922, his dreams of an independent Arabia shattered, T.E. Lawrence enlisted in the RAF under the assumed name John Hume Ross. Though methodical and restrictive, life there seemed to suit Lawrence: "The Air Force is not a man-crushing humiliating slavery, all its days. There is sun & decent treatment, and a very real measure of happiness, to those who do not look forward or back." With poetic clarity, Lawrence brings to life the harsh realities of barracks life and illuminates the strange twilight world he had slipped into after his war experiences. For anyone interested in the life of one of the 20th century's most enduring heroes and his life beyond the well-documented Arab revolt, The Mint is essential and compelling reading.

Genres: Nonfiction, Biography, History, Memoir, Autobiography, Military Fiction, British Literature

250 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1955

About the author

Thomas Edward Lawrence, British soldier, adventurer, and writer, who, known as "Lawrence of Arabia," from 1916 led the revolt against the Turks to 1918 and later wrote The Seven Pillars of Wisdom , an account of his adventures, in 1926.

The professional world came for Thomas Edward Lawrence. In 1922, he used John Hume Ross, the name, to enlist in the royal air force, which discovered and forced him. Afterward, he took T.E. Shaw to join the tank corps in 1923. The royal air force in 1925 eventually let him back.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._L...

Reviews

[Meirav Rath · Rating 5 out of 5]

Lawrence's style in this book is very much like that of Gunter Grass in The Tin Drum; you need to make a small dictionary in your head to understand exactly which details of reality are being described. I know not many people are bothered with such effort while reading, and that's why this paragraph is a warning.
This book is a very good window into Lawrence's post Great War psyche (hint: it's not all in one piece) and to the RAF life in the 20s. It's a lively, honest book, directly written from a soldier's point of view with very little mercy or an attempt to beautify anything or anyone.
I found it a delightful read and I recommend it to Lawrence fans.

[Crystal Carroll · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a shame that Lawrence only wrote the two books. Seven Pillars of Wisdom is a tour de force of adventure and emotion. The Mint is equally good, although in a different way.

Less introspective. Less adventure (well, there's no war on). No camels (I should hope not in Southern England). No desert (see previous). And yet, Lawrence had this incredible gift for getting the reader into his head.

The Mint is Lawrence's attempt to chronicle how the military takes recruits as raw material and mints them into something shiny and new. It is a very successful attempt.

It also serves as a kind of bookend to Seven Pillars, in which Lawrence fell apart from internal stresses. The Mint is about how Lawrence recreates himself into something whole again. Makes himself into a part of a community that serves something greater. Not as the great man leading the charge, but as one of the cogs and wheels that make the whole thing go.

If you're in the mood for an interesting and intelligent book, take a look.

[Maria · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book is evidence of Lawrence's post-traumatic stress, and details an unorthodox means of dealing with it: to plunge himself right back into the fire. The book also has value as an historical record of basic training 100 years ago, but it's the personal observations of his fellow recruits and of the officers who trained them that make it shine. A short and fascinating read.

[Smiley · Rating 3 out of 5]

I first knew T.E. Lawrence after I had watched the 1962 film "Lawrence of Arabia"[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lawrenc...] starring Peter O'Toole some 50 years ago. The film based on his "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" (available in paperback edition published by Penguin, one of those tough ones I hope to read soon) profoundly amazed me and he has long been one of my war heroes. I mean as a true one who did his job and never boasted of his success, honor or valor.

In fact, according to his message to E.M. Forster, he wrote this book as 'a private diary, interesting to the world only so far as the world may desire to dissect my personality' (back cover). Therefore, it looks naive and simple from some 50 chapters he designed and kept writing while serving in the RAF as 352087 A/c Ross. However, reading him is not easy since you need to follow his reflections embedded with innumerable military jargons and complex narration uniquely characteristic of Oxford graduates.

Before reading this memoir, I think it's a good idea to read his biography at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._L... and, I think, you'd realize why he has since been admiringly respected as one of the great characters famously involved in the Sinai and Palestine campaign and the Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire during World War I.

[Francesca · Rating 5 out of 5]

I find myself easily agreeing with E M Forster about this book: while not on so great a subject as Seven Pillars, it is better written and more relatable. As an early example of a genre of simple, personal military life, it may not be exceptional, but as a document of recovery it is more interesting.

The first chapter reminds me of nothing so much as Shira Lipkin's description of her rape kit, a trauma almost equal to the rape itself though done by supposed allies to better her defense. It and other incidents provide very quiet reminders of just who has entered the RAF and why, and what he is actually getting out of it.

In the end, he has not emerged in the sort of renewed glory that was expected by his contemporaries, but into a contentment, a joy of work and simple being. It is unquestionable that the man who wrote the last chapter was happier by far than the one who wrote the first, and far be it from any of us to begrudge the nature of that happiness.

[Oblomov · Rating 4 out of 5]

Lawrence after Arabia. Seeking to escape the fame which had grown around him as a result of his adventures in Arabia, adventures in which he no longer took pride, Lawrence joined the Royal airforce as an enlisted man. This book is based on the journal he kept during his early years as an airman, his basic training and the day to day life of an airman in the RAF in the 1920's. At once a glimpse of the service during this period and also providing insights into Lawrence's personality which led him to forge a new beginning, escaping from the legend that he had become.

[Britta · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rich, vivid and somewhat heartbreaking post-War account of the service years of T.E. Lawrence. A large departure of style from Seven Pillars, somewhat jarring at first how intimate The Mint feels in comparison to Seven Pillars' gradeur.

Tender and poetic, Lawrence writes as much about friendship and empathy as he does about sadism and emptiness. The Mint is brilliantly bright and a pleasure to read -- as well as an honor to peek into the diaries of such a great man.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

"My Cadet College notes shortened, grew occasional, stopped. Months and months flowed silently away. I think I had become happy. 'Why,' complained E. M. F[orster], 'as the years pass, do I find that word harder and harder to write?' Because when we write we are not happy: we only recollect it: and a recollection of the exceeding subtlety of happiness has something of the infect, unlawful: it being an overdraft on life" (200).

[Peter · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating and evocative account of Lawrence's attempt to find peace and anonymity as an RAF recruit. In approach and subject matter, it reminded me very much of Orwell's "Down and Out" and "Wigan Pier" as Lawrences captures the reality of the degradations, mind-numbing routines and authorised bullying to which he and his fellow "Urks" are subjected. But throughout the book Lawrence conveys a deep sense of comradeship and shared struggle.

There is also quite a lot of humour running through the book. There's a surreal moment where Lawrence, eating alone in the canteen, notices various pictures around the walls, the King, Hugh Trenchard ("Father of the RAF"), Field Marshall Haig etc...and himself! He ensures that the picture finds its way to the incinerator at the earliest opportunity. There's the Padre at the local church, that the recruits are forced to attend every Sunday,who warns in his sermon against a certain type of sin against the body which he reliably understands lasts no longer than one and three quarter minutes! The industrial language of his comrades, conscientiously recorded here, is choice but with some lovely turns of phrase.

If the main part of the book, taken from notes Lawrence composed at the end of each working day, deals with day to day struggles, the final, shorter section, covering his second stint in the service, provides a much broader sweep and acts as a eulogy to the joys of working in a shared, worthwhile enterprise. Lawrence's final words in the book, " I can't write "Finis" to this book, while I am still serving. I hope, sometimes, that I will never write it."

George Bernard Shaw, a close friend, once advised Lawrence that this book could never be published as a work of literary art. How wrong he was.

[Curtiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

An intriguing look into the mind of the man known as Lawrence of Arabia during the time in which he withdrew from the public eye by enlisting incognito into the Royal Air Force as A/c Shaw.

The Penultimate chapter covering the relationship between him and his motorcycle is poigniantly ironic, considering his subsequent death in a motorcycle accident.

[N · Rating 5 out of 5]

'Everywhere a relationship: no loneliness any more.'

[Andrew Walsh · Rating 3 out of 5]

Started well but very hard going, ended up a bit bored
Diary style means that it’s all too quick and there’s no chance to savour the descriptions
Some rave about this- not me I’m afraid

[Sarah Goodman · Rating 5 out of 5]

the original text full of expletives which makes the harsh existence seem more real. The hours of drill, PT and fatigues test Lawrence's physical and emotional endurance "i was used to walking 50 miles a day in the dessert but this is harsher" and he considers their treatment at times rank cruelty.Still not sure of his reasons for wanting to play such a minor service role ha ing led the Arab Revolt ..he comes to value the cameraderie of his fellow airmen also suffers from acute insomnia ...and seeks solace from moonlit camp walks before dawn and the reveil. You have to question how he was allowed in not once but twice under false details, first as 34 year old John Hume Ross and then in the Tank corps as Thomas Edward Shaw...perhaps his military chums helped him. A powerfully good memoir written in short journal sections whi he would write then hide in the short time before lights out. Full of observational details of daily routines he is a hero in secret , determined not to break and just wanting to blend in with the men.




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[Ian Chapman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Certainly an interesting read, and an historical document of service in the early Royal Air Force, with the influence of the then recent world war. This is the later edition released after the departure of A. W. Lawrence, an Oxford academic who was literary executor of his older brother. It seems that some of the not so subtle references to homosexuality might have been left out of the earlier printings. There is one reference to his Arabian ventures, when the author states that he removed a picture of himself from an official wall.

Not so much a philosophical work, but more a personal account of 1920s RAF service in the ranks.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very, very interesting and (fittingly) idiosyncratic account of Lawrence's attempt to submerge himself in anonymity by serving under a false name as a common airman in the RAF. Bulk of the book covers "Depot" experience, which is bootcamp, in 1922 upon his first enlistment. Pretty much an every-day account of the experience. Then after a gap of three years, he writes intermittently about his life as an airman (mechanic) at a duty station.

[Jennifer Garrett · Rating 4 out of 5]

A strange book, written from a series of letters sent to friends whilst Lawrence was undertaking basic training and first periods of work with the newly formed RAF. Beautiful descriptions of weather, scenery, men with whom he shared accommodation, thoughts and fears. I now feel I have to read Seven Pillars of Wisdom to better get to know this man.

[Margaret Joyce · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is without a doubt a book to be read not so much for the 'what' of it, but for the 'how', i.e., for the language with which T. E. Lawrence, the actual Lawrence of Arabia(!), expresses his thoughts. His every sentence is a poetic jewel. A brilliant read.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating, first hand, account of life as an ordinary, anonymous, low ranking airman in the 1920's Royal Air Force written by an extraordinary man.

[lana a · Rating 4 out of 5]

the good parts were super good and the boring parts were super boring. very inconsistent pacing but thats alright.

[Mithrandir · Rating 5 out of 5]

there was something fantastically wrong with this man

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you're a fan of T. E. Lawrence (aka Lawrence of Arabia) and/or interested in accounts of RAF (Royal Air Force) experiences, I'd recommend this book as almost a necessity to round out your knowledge. However, I wouldn't really recommend the book if you're not at all familiar with the author; in my opinion, context matters a lot here.

The Mint, Lawrence's account of the years during which he joined the RAF under an assumed name, is frequently punctuated with strong language, passing references to the author's past, and the everyday physical goings-on of military life that both repulsed and attracted Lawrence - a juxtaposition that was common throughout his life. The style is uniquely Lawrence's and the chapters are short and chronological, tending to read as journal entries or stand-alone short stories in style. As someone who's read a good bit of things by and about T. E. Lawrence and who considers him a "favorite historical figure", I found the book very interesting, even profound. But those who have no context for the book or reasons behind its writing will probably be puzzled at best, and offended at worst.

[Waylon Cambodia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Arguably the best description Ever of the exhilaration of the motorcycle mystique.
Read "The Road" for Lawrence's description of a race with a bi-plane[!] Really.
quote]. 'Once we so fled across the evening light, with the yellow sun on my left, when a huge shadow roared just overhead. A Bristol Fighter, from Whitewash Villas, our neighbour aerodrome, was banking sharply round. I checked speed an instant to wave: and the slip-stream of my impetus snapped my arm and elbow astern, like a raised flail. The pilot pointed down the road towards Lincoln. I sat hard in the saddle, folded back my ears and went away after him, like a dog after a hare. Quickly we drew abreast, as the impulse of his dive to my level exhausted itself.'
Magnificent.

[Wren · Rating 4 out of 5]

I don’t know man I just really feel for the guy. He hates himself, always has, to the point he joins the RAF under a completely fabricated identity in a desperate attempt to become someone he can bear to be and to finally belong to a group, but even then there’s still a framed photo of Lawrence of Arabia in the mess hall, a reminder of the fact he can’t escape who he is.

He was of course a flawed person and certainly not someone you always want to relate to but I deeply understand how painful it is to hate yourself so strongly it prevents you from ever belonging or ever being. I can’t say for him the reason is his sexuality, but I can speculate that it is for sure.

Not as good as the Seven Pillars, but an interesting look at life in the RAF and once again I really am just delighted by his prose, it’s surprisingly beautiful. I’d recommend Seven Pillars to those interested in Mr Lawrence and his life, but The Mint only to those hopelessly hyperfixated on it.

[Paul Ransom · Rating 4 out of 5]

After Arabia, T.E. Lawrence tried to vanish into the anonymity of the forces, enlisting as a private. He was outed but, determined, tried again. 'The Mint' is his log, his scholarly but sincere account of the ordianry days & nights of the enblsited soldier in the 1920s. Without being performatively 'ordinary', Lawrence's keen eye evokes characters, rituals and mindsets with both honesty and affection. I am not much into militaria, but this book soars well above heroic bravado, piercing the often ridiculous armour of soldierville to unveil something profoundly and touchingly human. Quite beautiful.

[Max Gwynne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A marvellous insight into T.E. Lawrence's time in the RAF in the aftermath of the Great War. Lawrence joined under a false name in order to escape the legend, which he shied away from, of 'Lawrence of Arabia'. What ensues is a brutally honest and open account. One filled with boyish humour and escapades. The final chapter is a tragic epilogue in which Lawrence describes the rush he got when riding his motorbike at high speed. It was to be this rush, and two cyclists on the wrong side of the road, that was to be his end in May 1935.

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Written very much as a group of essays. An interesting time for a very interesting person, TE Lawrence will never be again he was a man for his time and time was his to be had!

Why the RAF do you wonder I guess it was a new force using technology which was very much in its infancy following the end of WW1 and was far enough from the Desert world of Arabia so as not to be noticed. Worth the read but persevere until such time as you start to understand the English of the time.

Reminded me very much of an Orwell essay!

[Adam · Rating 4 out of 5]

A unique read, an interesting balance of Lawrence's own perspectives and of social and military history, a blend of his own idealism perhaps and of it being a document of realist history, there's lots of asides into the lives of the other men. And at the centre is the enigma of Lawrence himself his disinterest in the exterior world, his narrative snapshots into his inner recesses, but at the same time perhaps he's disguising himself, maybe onto the Pillars or maybe short stories of Forster.

[Peter Coomber · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had an interest in this book because my grandfather crossed paths in the RAF with a Mr Ross or Shaw during the 1920's.
It's an interesting book. I've only given it four stars out of five because I'm a Beano and Dandy man myself, and some of the words I struggled to read. I'm sure they are good words, though.

[Justin Labelle · Rating 3 out of 5]

Beautifully written. A sort of less vicious, British take on the intro to Full Metal Jacket.
Short chapters that almost mimic a military march.
Much to do about the monotonous nature of drills and social interactions on base.
Good not great but with moments of perceptive poetic beauty.

[Gerald Davis · Rating 4 out of 5]

Illuminating.

Revealing details which partially explain the fears and motivations of T. E. Lawrence.
Worthwhile reading for those interested in Lawrence of Arabia.