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Lawrence of Arabia: The Life, the Legend
Lawrence's story told through his own photographs, paintings, drawings, and ephemera, all supported by quotations from his mesmerizing firsthand account of his experiences.
From the moment that Alexander Korda first set out to turn T. E. Lawrence's life into a movie not long after Lawrence's death in 1935 (a passion that only became a reality in the 1960s through other hands in Peter O'Toole's riveting performance), the mythic figure of the man on the camel enacting a heroic dream has captured the imagination of each succeeding generation.
Now, seventy years after Lawrence's death and at a time when the Middle Eastern setting in which he acquired fame is constantly in the news, this visual biography takes us inside the mind of a man of extraordinary energy, ability, and charisma. Lawrence seemed to have everything in his hands, only to throw it all away and turn his life into an obsessive quest for anonymity and sanctuary.
Fiercely ambitious, yet ambivalent about recognition, Lawrence had a brilliant academic career at Oxford before the First World War. Army intelligence work in Egypt in the early years of the war was the prelude to his participation in Emir Feisal's great Arab revolt against the Ottomans, fame at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and work with Winston Churchill after the war. But then came a relentless, restless, self-abasing search for obscurity under assumed names, followed by a mysterious motorcycle crash and death at the age of forty-six. 180 illustrations, 80 in color.
From the moment that Alexander Korda first set out to turn T. E. Lawrence's life into a movie not long after Lawrence's death in 1935 (a passion that only became a reality in the 1960s through other hands in Peter O'Toole's riveting performance), the mythic figure of the man on the camel enacting a heroic dream has captured the imagination of each succeeding generation.
Now, seventy years after Lawrence's death and at a time when the Middle Eastern setting in which he acquired fame is constantly in the news, this visual biography takes us inside the mind of a man of extraordinary energy, ability, and charisma. Lawrence seemed to have everything in his hands, only to throw it all away and turn his life into an obsessive quest for anonymity and sanctuary.
Fiercely ambitious, yet ambivalent about recognition, Lawrence had a brilliant academic career at Oxford before the First World War. Army intelligence work in Egypt in the early years of the war was the prelude to his participation in Emir Feisal's great Arab revolt against the Ottomans, fame at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, and work with Winston Churchill after the war. But then came a relentless, restless, self-abasing search for obscurity under assumed names, followed by a mysterious motorcycle crash and death at the age of forty-six. 180 illustrations, 80 in color.
208 pages, Hardcover
First published January 1, 1989
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About the author
Malcolm Brown
80 books8 followersMalcolm Brown is a best-selling popular military historian. Originally a television producer specialising in military documentaries, he has been a freelance historian at the Imperial War Museum since 1989. Brown has researched and written extensively on the First and Second World Wars. He is a regular contributor to BBC History Magazine, and lives in Reading.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
February 10, 2017
Read it mainly for the pictures, of which there was an abundance. Be aware that this book doesn't contain every photo ever taken of T. E., but it is a very, very good selection.
Some of them were new to me; in particular I was impressed by the Kennington drawing on p. 54, which Lawrence found to be too "unnerving" to include in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It is one of the best likenesses of him.
The colorized slides from Lowell Thomas's show were also interesting. It made me think about how we today take movies, documentaries, and the internet for granted. One is prone to feel a bit of scorn for Thomas's presentations, but it should be remembered that for most people this was their "documentary," however dramatized (and don't we still add drama to our history shows today?). He probably meant well.
Overall I enjoyed the book and would even consider buying a copy for all the visual and verbal details compiled here. Some aspects of the biography text seemed gratuitously sensational to me, hence the deducted star.
Some of them were new to me; in particular I was impressed by the Kennington drawing on p. 54, which Lawrence found to be too "unnerving" to include in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It is one of the best likenesses of him.
The colorized slides from Lowell Thomas's show were also interesting. It made me think about how we today take movies, documentaries, and the internet for granted. One is prone to feel a bit of scorn for Thomas's presentations, but it should be remembered that for most people this was their "documentary," however dramatized (and don't we still add drama to our history shows today?). He probably meant well.
Overall I enjoyed the book and would even consider buying a copy for all the visual and verbal details compiled here. Some aspects of the biography text seemed gratuitously sensational to me, hence the deducted star.
May 25, 2011
An insight into the mind of the legend...
February 6, 2015
Informative and entertaining book about one of history's most enigmatic men.
April 28, 2023
I'm a sucker for T.E. Lawrence biographies. And there are a fair number of them.
This one though from Malcolm Brown is unusual in a number of respects.
Chiefly, it's a big book. Really a coffee table book. And to suit that description, the biographical text is somewhat short but includes some insights I wasn't previously aware-of. The photographs and illustrations though are this book's key draw. They are superb and include many I'd never seen before.
So it's a big book, lots of photo's and a bit less text than you'd normally get with a biography. But even here Brown excels. Unlike other biographies, he concentrates much on Lawrences post-Arabia life, particularly his (two) times in the-then fledgling RAF, and the Tank Corp. Lawrences' contribution to the development of high-speed motorboats for search-and-rescue was something I knew nothing of, and knowing of how important these were for rescuing downed Battle-of-Britain pilots in the English Channel (both RAF & Luftwaffe) it extends the influence Lawrence had beyond just the WWI 'Desert War'.
And there's more. Such as insights into the production and publication of 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom', better analysis as to why the Lawrence legend, like Ernest Shackleton, continues to resonate deeply with later generations. As with Shackleton, Lawrence, after the feats that had fascinated the public and in effect created the legend, struggled to find a goal and meaning for his later life. It still isn't clear how the RAF and Tank Corp allowed a former British Army lieutenant-colonel to serve in the 'lower' ranks. There are other little facts I'd not been previously aware-of; for instance I hadn't known that Lawrence and Henry Williamson (the author of 'Tarka') had corresponded.
There is though one abiding memory that sticks. On page 184 is a photograph of the mourners at Lawrence's funeral, with a saddened Winston Churchill looking at the camera, accompanied by his wife, Clementine.
A beautiful book that I already cherish.
This one though from Malcolm Brown is unusual in a number of respects.
Chiefly, it's a big book. Really a coffee table book. And to suit that description, the biographical text is somewhat short but includes some insights I wasn't previously aware-of. The photographs and illustrations though are this book's key draw. They are superb and include many I'd never seen before.
So it's a big book, lots of photo's and a bit less text than you'd normally get with a biography. But even here Brown excels. Unlike other biographies, he concentrates much on Lawrences post-Arabia life, particularly his (two) times in the-then fledgling RAF, and the Tank Corp. Lawrences' contribution to the development of high-speed motorboats for search-and-rescue was something I knew nothing of, and knowing of how important these were for rescuing downed Battle-of-Britain pilots in the English Channel (both RAF & Luftwaffe) it extends the influence Lawrence had beyond just the WWI 'Desert War'.
And there's more. Such as insights into the production and publication of 'The Seven Pillars of Wisdom', better analysis as to why the Lawrence legend, like Ernest Shackleton, continues to resonate deeply with later generations. As with Shackleton, Lawrence, after the feats that had fascinated the public and in effect created the legend, struggled to find a goal and meaning for his later life. It still isn't clear how the RAF and Tank Corp allowed a former British Army lieutenant-colonel to serve in the 'lower' ranks. There are other little facts I'd not been previously aware-of; for instance I hadn't known that Lawrence and Henry Williamson (the author of 'Tarka') had corresponded.
There is though one abiding memory that sticks. On page 184 is a photograph of the mourners at Lawrence's funeral, with a saddened Winston Churchill looking at the camera, accompanied by his wife, Clementine.
A beautiful book that I already cherish.
June 21, 2009
Excellent. We saw the movie Lawrence of Arabia recently and I got this and a couple of other books about him out of the library. This one has good clear prose and lots of photos as well. Fascinating guy. The movie seems to have been an interesting "rendition" of that part of his life - many of the events depicted were switched around and altered, but much of the truth of him was pretty well conveyed all the same.
December 1, 2011
Love anything on TEL ... such an interesting life and a fascinating man.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews