This biography penetrates and overturns the mythology which surrounds T.E. Lawrence but is dispassionate and generous in spirit throughout. It has reopened debate and interest in one of the most remarkable men of the century. James reconstructs Lawrence's wartime career and analyzes how it was translated into a legend in the 1920s and 1930s. He traces how Lawrence used and contributed to this legend and how the myth of the so-called betrayal of the Arabs by the British has coloured the subsequent history of the Middle East.
Lawrence James was a founder member of York University and then took a research degree at Merton College, Oxford. After a distinguished teaching career he became a full-time writer in 1985 and has emerged as one of the outstanding narrative historians of his generation. His books include Crimea: The War with Russia in Contemporary Photographs, The Savage Wars: British Campaigns in Africa 1870-1920, Mutiny: Mutinies in British and Commonwealth Forces 1797-1956 and Imperial Rearguard: The Last Wars of Empire.Lawrence James edited the Daily Telegraph British Empire supplement (1997) and was th...
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