T E Lawrence

Robert Fisk

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Seven Pillars of Wisdom

Penguin Shop: 3 Clothbound Classics for £33

It ranks with the greatest books ever written in the English language.As a narrative of war and adventure...it is unsurpassable

Round this tent-pole of a military chronicle, T. E. has hung an unexampled fabric of portraits, descriptions, philosophies, emotions, adventures, dreams

I am not much of a hero-worshipper but I could have followed T.E. Lawrence over the edge of the world

Seven Pillars of Wisdom is one of the major statements about the fighting experience of the First World War

More recently he has won an amazing new reputation as the most perceptive writer on the subject of guerrilla warfare, so that his memoir about the Arab Revolt - Seven Pillars Of Wisdom, the basis for the movie - is now a "must read" in Iraq. It is the best textbook for conventional forces facing the problem of having to cope with an enemy who has no known rules, who emerges out of nowhere and strikes at random

His book is still a wonderful, exciting and sometimes moving account of a great adventure

Seven Pillars, elegantly written and deservedly regarded as a classic, also remains fascinating in its own right, as military history, for its close observation of the desert life of the nomadic Arab tribesmen, and perhaps most of all for its insights into the character of the still-enigmatic Lawrence

The Seven Pillars of Wisdom is about the war in the desert in the way that Moby Dick is about catching a whale

I was asked to write a preface for the latest edition and realised why Churchill called it one of the "greatest books ever written in the English language

WITH A NEW INTRODUCTION BY ROBERT FISK 
 
Seven Pillars of Wisdom is an unusual and rich work. It encompasses an account of the Arab Revolt against the Turks during the First World War alongside general Middle Eastern and military history, politics, adventure and drama. It is also a memoir of the soldier known as 'Lawrence of Arabia'.Lawrence is a fascinating and controversial figure and his talent as a vivid and imaginative writer shines through on every page of this, his masterpiece. Seven Pillars of Wisdom provides a unique portrait of this extraordinary man and an insight into the birth of the Arab nation

'It seems to me as certain of immortality as anything written in English for half a century' John Buchan

T.E. Lawrence was born on 16th August 1888 in Tremadog in Wales. He was one of five illegitimate children born to the Seventh Baron of Westmeath. He studied at Jesus College, Oxford where he became interested in the Middle East.He worked for British Intelligence during the First World War and fought with the Arab forces to defeat the Turks.His exploits earned him the title of 'Lawrence of Arabia' back in Britain.Her resigned in 1922 and sought anonymity in the RAF where he enlisted as John Hume Ross.He later changed his name by deed poll to T.E. Shaw. Shortly after retiring from the RAF, T.E. Lawrence died in a motorcycle accident on 19th May 1935.

Seven Pillars of Wisdom

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