Lawrence of Arabia: Mirage of a Desert War

by Adrian Greaves

This compelling new biography uses primary sources and original research to uncover the truth about this legendary figure. T.E. Lawrence is one of the most enigmatic characters in British history. At the outbreak of the First World War he was working as an archaeologist in the Middle East. With no military training at all and a strong distrust of politicians and senior officers alike, he succeeded in a task where they had failed. Not only did he unite the Arab nation—which was at perpetual war with itself—but he also led them to victory against the once great Ottoman Empire. The truth about this mysterious personality is more compelling than fiction.

Genres: History, Biography

260 pages, Hardcover

First published March 8, 2007

About the author

Adrian Greaves is the founder of the Anglo-Zulu War Historical Society and the author of numerous books on the period and South African wars.

Reviews

[Mark Mortensen]

The Great War was the first global war and the service of Thomas Edward Lawrence is an integral part of World War I history and world civilization. Born in 1888 in the United Kingdom North Wales community of Tremadoc (Tremadog) he would long be known as “Lawrence of Arabia”.

With a distinct passion for Middle East archeology he pursued his advanced studies and excelled in Arabic language. He was practicing his trade and enjoying life in the Middle East when the global war erupted. As a commissioned officer in the British Army, Lawrence parlayed his numerous skills and teamed with Prince Feisal to gather nomadic Arabic tribes in a common effort to counter the Turkish Ottoman Empire. Allied with Germany the Turkish Muslims killed up to one and a half million Armenian Christians and set their sights on expanding their territory throughout the vast Middle Eastern desert. As a friend of the Arab Muslims, Lawrence served as a leader, warrior, and constant interpreter to Middle East British and French Expeditionary Forces. Rather than wearing a British uniform Lawrence donned the Arab robe and attire primarily because he found it much more comfortable while riding a camel. As Great War allies the French and British served alongside each other in Europe on the Western Front. I found it interesting that their Middle East partnership was fraught with inner friction and tension along the way to victory.

Following Armistice the peace treaties became quite controversial. One example is that for participation in the Middle East conflict France wished to retain Syria as a colony in part to keep a foothold for Christianity.

Lawrence decided it was time to return to England. He authored several books including his highly acclaimed Seven Pillars of Wisdom published in 1926.

This book is a great addition to any World War I library collection. I appreciated the highlighted timeline, photos and maps and at 260 pages it is tight and concise.

[Sheepdog]

I've collected material relating to Lawrence for many years.

I never pick up something by him without being greatly amused by something after casually flipping to a page no more than four times.

A remarkable enigma, TE Lawence.

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I found Greaves' book a delight...

It wasn't in either of The Great Camps... Geaves isn't a Lawrence lover OR hater.

In places, he says that things said by or about Lawrence just aren't true. And then produces an argument to support his allegation.

But he also gives credit to Lawrence for being a great man.

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The book covers all of Lawrence's life, in great detail, without ever becoming less than very readable.

[Connor Keir]

I loved this book. Went on not knowing anything or having seen the movie based on the man. Felt like this was a clear perspective of the man and his history in Arabia. The book spent a lot of time trying to get to the truth of the matter, maybe not the event buts the true feeling

[Mark Donald]

Not bad bit of a slog to read

[L]

Ok. A helpful supplement to Seven Pillars.

[Achtung Englander]

Having only seen David Lean's Lawrence Of Arabia I found this book to be an excellent introduction to the life of Lawrence. The book concentrates on the events that occurred during the Arabian campaign against the Ottoman Turks with Lawrence. It also touches upon his life before and after the 1917-1919 campaign but not in any great detail.

I liked Adrain Greaves no nonsense way of writing. He successfully made a complicated war story easy to understand without making it dry or dull. The book has been criticised because the author gave his opinion on events and interpretations of what Lawrence was thinking. OK - so what is wrong with that ?. That is what historians are there for, to make you think, as well as presenting facts and figures. Greaves repeatedly stated that this is what he thinks.

It is not a particularly long book and that is to its credit. There are bigger and fatter books on Lawrence, but this is a great beginning to trying to understand the man and the circumstances that led him to be the mysterious and romantic historical figure. The maps and photos in the book are superb.

My only criticism is that the Greaves repeats a lot of things in the last chapter that he already stated in the first. For a moment I wondered if I read the last chapters first ?.

[Cory]

This was a slog of a book for me. I think it's probably of more interest to a scholar of T.E Lawrence, rather than to a casual reader. In many of the chapters, the central premise seems to be "Lawrence was a liar", and while I initially found that off-putting (not so much the assertion but the way it was presented), I did come to find the author's scholarship on Lawrence's exaggerations and outright lies interesting as I persevered, and the tone of "I know something you don't know" mellowed. This was a slow paced book, which is not to my personal preferences, and pace may have contributed to the feeling of slogging through the text. That said, it certainly got better in the later chapters, particularly those which dealt with Lawrence directly. The dryness of the prose, however, leads me to only really recommend this book to enthusiasts.

[JEAN-PHILIPPE PEROL]

Depois da autobiografia dos sete pilares da sabedoria - que criou o mito -, e do filmo - que fixou a lenda, Adrian Greaves conseguiu escrever uma biografica solida e objetiva. Bem escrito e bem documento, o livro pertuba algumas teorias fixadas pelo proprio Lawrence (nunca foi preso pelos turcos) ou pelos seus inimigos ( nada comprova que era homosexual), justifica algumas criticas sobre a extrema violencia da guerra do deserto(especialmente sobre o massacre de Tafas que foi provocado pelos turcos). Mostrando a couragem e a paixao dum homem que nunca aceitou de ver o seu pais ter traido os seus aliados arabes, ele da mais uma contribuiçao sobre o Oriente Medio do seculo 21.