Another Life: Lawrence After Arabia

by Andrew R.B. Simpson

T. E. Lawrence found global recognition for his leadership of the Arab Revolt during World War I, harassing the Turks from Medina to Damascus and preparing the ground for the final Allied offensive in 1918. He was hailed as a hero, but little is known about the life of this mysterious and charismatic man after those events. This book is about Lawrence’s life after Arabia, and surveys his service in the RAF and the Tank Corps as a mere ranker, and details how he became an expert in the technology of the new RAF. It examines the work he did for the 1929 Schneider Trophy Race, the development of the new RAF 200 seaplane tender, and the development of its armor-plated offspring, the Armored Target Boat. It also investigates his literary endeavors and his tragically early death, a sad end to a Renaissance man of all talents, an academic, a talented engineer and a soldier. Lawrence was offered exalted diplomatic positions by Churchill, implored by Nancy Astor to enter the fray as the Nazi threat grew, socialized with E. M. Forster, George Bernard Shaw, and the Cliveden set. He made lasting friendships with humble squaddies, and his self-loathing was expressed physically. Drawing on interviews with some of those who knew Lawrence after Arabia—interviews previously unpublished—Andrew R. B. Simpson portrays the last years of one of the most astonishing figures of the 20th century and settles once and for all the reasons for his untimely death.

Genres: Middle East, Biography

384 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2009

Reviews

[Jerome Otte · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting and well-researched work on Lawrence’s final years.

Simpson describes how Lawrence in his postwar life tried to avoid the limelight but was willing to use his fame to get assignments in the RAF (which he seemed to genuinely enjoy) and the Tank Corps (which he hated). The book focuses on Lawrence’s military service; there is nothing on his time at the Paris Peace Conference or his work on the postwar Middle Eastern settlement.

Much of the book deals with how Lawrence still managed to keep himself busy and productive. During his various postings in Britain and India under assumed names he was able to work intensely on Seven Pillars of Wisdom, The Mint, and his translation of The Odyssey while dealing with the demanding work of a low-ranking serviceman. The book also covers the publicity Lawrence attracted, and the embarrassment of the lower-ranking RAF brass when they discovered Lawrence’s identity.

There aren't too many problems. The book does have a few typos here and there. At one point Simpson refers to the Arab Revolt as “an attempt by the people of Arabia to win back their territory from the Turkish Empire after centuries of Ottoman rule.” This is the romanticized version of the Arab Revolt, promoted by Lawrence and by many commentators. Omitted in this version are other, less idealistic motives, such as British attempts to counter German subversion in the Arab world, the cautious Sharif Hussein’s attempts to play both sides as long as he could (since both the British and the Turks subsidized him), Sheikh Abdullah’s ambition for power, the dynastic ambitions of Husein’s family, the Arab fighters’ motives of loot, the Hejazi tribesmen’s hostility to Turkish reforms, or the dependence of the Hejaz on British food subsidies. There were also plenty of Arabs who stayed in the Ottoman army during the war, and who continued to fight other Arabs as Sharif Hussein clashed with Ibn Saud after the Arab Revolt. I get that this book has a different focus, but the forces behind the Arab Revolt deserve a more critical look.

Simpson briefly mentions that Lawrence joined the RAF partly due to his disillusionment with the outcome of the war in the Middle East, but Simpson doesn’t develop that point anywhere. Lawrence wrote of his belief that his work on the postwar settlement basically fixed the Middle East (in letters to Robert Graves, example), but Simpson doesn’t mention these statements.

Simpson also accepts Lawrence’s claim that he worked on Revolt in the Desert “by simply hacking his way through a complete set of Seven Pillars sheets with a pair of scissors and some Indian ink.” This is unlikely. Lawrence had charged his subscribers thirty guineas for the complete text, so it would have been tactless for him to suggest that the abridgement was just as good. At the same time, Revolt in the Desert was the first major work published under his own name for a general readership, so it seems unlikely that Lawrence would have risked a poor critical reception by sloppy editing.

A solid work, though it is dense and probably best for enthusiasts.