Lawrence in Arabia
2013 • 592 pages
Ratings6
Average rating4.5
15
Ratings6
Average rating4.5
One of the Best Books of the Year: The Christian Science Monitor NPR The Seattle Times St. Louis Post-Dispatch Chicago Tribune A New York Times Notable Book Finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award in Biography The Arab Revolt against the Turks in World War I was, in the words of T. E. Lawrence, “a sideshow of a sideshow.” As a result, the conflict was shaped to a remarkable degree by a small handful of adventurers and low-level officers far removed from the corridors of power. At the center of it all was Lawrence himself. In early 1914 he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in Syria; by 1917 he was riding into legend at the head of an Arab army as he fought a rearguard action against his own government and its imperial ambitions. Based on four years of intensive primary document research, Lawrence in Arabia definitively overturns received wisdom on how the modern Middle East was formed.
Reviews with the most likes.
This is a fascinating a detailed story covering the actions of Lawrence and other key players before, during, and after WW1.
So much of what is discussed in this book was not part of my public education on the war, so I needed to refer to additional texts to understand the geography and people discussed in this book.
I highly recommend this book if you are interested in history, other views of WW1, the middle east, or political development.
