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Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph #1-2
Seven Pillars of Wisdom: A Triumph
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.
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.
784 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1926
About the author
T.E. Lawrence
265 books343 followersBorn Thomas Edward Lawrence, and known professionally as T. E. Lawrence, though the world came to know him as Lawrence of Arabia. In 1922, Lawrence used the name John Hume Ross to enlist in the RAF; after being discovered and forced out, he took the name T. E. Shaw to join the Royal Tank Corps (1923). He was eventually let back into the RAF (1925).
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May 23, 2024
How can this monumental autobiographical epic of nearly 700 pages describe the peregrinations of Thomas Edward Lawrence, better known as Lawrence of Arabia?
In the middle of the First World War, this English officer imagined a massive Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which would relieve the other French and Russian fronts. To realize his vision, he searches for a charismatic Bedouin leader whom he will find in the person of Faisal, one of the sons of Sharif Hussein of Mecca. Then, there are endless journeys and lightning attacks on camels, physical pain at the limit of the tolerable, and daily arguments to try to unite the tribes of the desert accustomed to quarreling endlessly.
Far from being a straightforward account of the Arabs' advance from the Hedjaz to Aqaba, then to Damascus, the seven pillars of wisdom are, according to the chapters, a reflection on the strategy and geography and the peoples of the Middle East: Orient or a half-whispered confession from its author.
There is a precise analysis of the war's course, the impacts of such victory or defeat in the French trenches on the material the Suez Canal could deliver, and a critique of the various operations carried out by the Turks and the English. Finally, comparing the great masters of strategy such as Clausewitz or Foch, Lawrence is an expert in assaulting the Ottomans without facing them and carefully sabotaging their lines of communication and railroad.
We also like to follow Lawrence on his travels: "slow" on camelback, fast when he takes the ship to take his orders at Suez or circulates in armored rolls. In a few years, he traveled through Jordan (Maan, Aqaba, Amman, Dana, Wadi Rum), frequently traveled to Cairo, returned to the Hedjaz, and detested Jeddah before pushing his advance on Damascus. His exact knowledge of the people and their rivalries in the Middle East surprised me. He describes the Druze, the Yezidis, the Armenians, the Syriacs, and the Levantines, who rub shoulders with the Arabs in great detail. He endlessly criticizes French and Turkish people while he praises the moments shared between the English around what at the time seemed to him to be the pinnacle of luxury: Earl Grey, canned corned beef, and dry biscuits.
Beyond his adventures' stories and exceptional geographical and geopolitical knowledge, Lawrence dwells on his certainties, which sometimes collapse. He sometimes flaunts his guilt in leading men in this way by making promises he knows to be empty; his spiritual quest and the physical and mental violence he was subjected to also make this story a self-confession, even atonement.
Exciting and often fascinating, this work is, in my opinion, the key to better understanding part of the First World War, which took place in the Middle East. And whose subsequent treaties (Treaty of Sèvre, Treaty of Lausanne, etc.) defined the borders of this region, the repercussions of which we know today. So, while it is true that it has specific lengths, I did not find it less fascinating.
In the middle of the First World War, this English officer imagined a massive Arab revolt against the Ottoman Empire, which would relieve the other French and Russian fronts. To realize his vision, he searches for a charismatic Bedouin leader whom he will find in the person of Faisal, one of the sons of Sharif Hussein of Mecca. Then, there are endless journeys and lightning attacks on camels, physical pain at the limit of the tolerable, and daily arguments to try to unite the tribes of the desert accustomed to quarreling endlessly.
Far from being a straightforward account of the Arabs' advance from the Hedjaz to Aqaba, then to Damascus, the seven pillars of wisdom are, according to the chapters, a reflection on the strategy and geography and the peoples of the Middle East: Orient or a half-whispered confession from its author.
There is a precise analysis of the war's course, the impacts of such victory or defeat in the French trenches on the material the Suez Canal could deliver, and a critique of the various operations carried out by the Turks and the English. Finally, comparing the great masters of strategy such as Clausewitz or Foch, Lawrence is an expert in assaulting the Ottomans without facing them and carefully sabotaging their lines of communication and railroad.
We also like to follow Lawrence on his travels: "slow" on camelback, fast when he takes the ship to take his orders at Suez or circulates in armored rolls. In a few years, he traveled through Jordan (Maan, Aqaba, Amman, Dana, Wadi Rum), frequently traveled to Cairo, returned to the Hedjaz, and detested Jeddah before pushing his advance on Damascus. His exact knowledge of the people and their rivalries in the Middle East surprised me. He describes the Druze, the Yezidis, the Armenians, the Syriacs, and the Levantines, who rub shoulders with the Arabs in great detail. He endlessly criticizes French and Turkish people while he praises the moments shared between the English around what at the time seemed to him to be the pinnacle of luxury: Earl Grey, canned corned beef, and dry biscuits.
Beyond his adventures' stories and exceptional geographical and geopolitical knowledge, Lawrence dwells on his certainties, which sometimes collapse. He sometimes flaunts his guilt in leading men in this way by making promises he knows to be empty; his spiritual quest and the physical and mental violence he was subjected to also make this story a self-confession, even atonement.
Exciting and often fascinating, this work is, in my opinion, the key to better understanding part of the First World War, which took place in the Middle East. And whose subsequent treaties (Treaty of Sèvre, Treaty of Lausanne, etc.) defined the borders of this region, the repercussions of which we know today. So, while it is true that it has specific lengths, I did not find it less fascinating.
February 17, 2020
"All men dream, but not equally. Those who dream by night in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity: but the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act on their dreams with open eyes, to make them possible."
The source of the title of T. E. Lawrence's masterpiece is the book of Proverbs:
"Wisdom hath builded a house: she hath hewn out her seven pillars." (Proverbs, 9:1)
This quotation is used as an evocative phrase for the title of a book that Lawrence compared to Moby Dick and The Brothers Karamazov, and Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra. He considered these "titanic books" that were distinguished by "greatness of spirit". I would agree that his literary achievement at least approaches those levels and also demonstrates the bravado demonstrated by his comparison to them. His book was published in 1926 even though he wrote most of it about 1919 following his return from the desert.
Reading this classic account of Lawrence's exploits was both exhilarating and informative. I was impressed by his depiction of Arab culture of the time and its seeming connection with past and present. The importance of tales told around the hearth as the heart of Arab culture seems to be similar to the culture encountered by Muhammad as he was growing up centuries earlier. Under the most arduous conditions, Lawrence found time for keen analysis: he applied that analysis to the differing forces that were interdependent within the Arab culture and did so with out betraying his loyalty to all or surrendering his loyalty to any.
Further, Lawrence's keen ability to describe his surroundings and elevate the events, of which he was often the center, is shown in almost every chapter. He was able, through the generous length of his narrative, to share both bristling detail and a sense of the intricacy of the events he portrays. He often took time to share descriptions of the terrain and the weather which provide background for his continuing struggle. At the same time this detail provides as sense of both a documentary approach and also the drama of his escapades. The portraits of the Arab leaders from Abdulla and Auda to Feisel are fascinating in their detail and psychological insight. Lawrence, it seems, was born for this journey and fated to share it with us. In doing so he acted upon his dream 'with open eyes' and made it happen. In a book filled with deception on both sides he gives us a view into the world before the end of World War I changed everything. We see the various Arab factions and the deals made with the British. More importantly we are given insight into the men through Lawrence's eyes, his acute judgement, and his poetic narrative. He notes the keys to the Arab Revolt in the common language they shared and their heritage of the greatness that existed under the Caliphs going back to the six centuries following the death of Muhammad. We share in his pangs of conscience and his judgments of others and his own life and actions.
He notes that "feeling and illusion were at war within me" reminding me of the birth of modernity with Faustian man. Also important are his comments on the British in the Middle East and the nature of the soldier in war. Reading this treatise was a moving experience as I gradually found support for my own subjunctive mood in this inspirational book.
The source of the title of T. E. Lawrence's masterpiece is the book of Proverbs:
"Wisdom hath builded a house: she hath hewn out her seven pillars." (Proverbs, 9:1)
This quotation is used as an evocative phrase for the title of a book that Lawrence compared to Moby Dick and The Brothers Karamazov, and Nietzsche's Thus Spake Zarathustra. He considered these "titanic books" that were distinguished by "greatness of spirit". I would agree that his literary achievement at least approaches those levels and also demonstrates the bravado demonstrated by his comparison to them. His book was published in 1926 even though he wrote most of it about 1919 following his return from the desert.
Reading this classic account of Lawrence's exploits was both exhilarating and informative. I was impressed by his depiction of Arab culture of the time and its seeming connection with past and present. The importance of tales told around the hearth as the heart of Arab culture seems to be similar to the culture encountered by Muhammad as he was growing up centuries earlier. Under the most arduous conditions, Lawrence found time for keen analysis: he applied that analysis to the differing forces that were interdependent within the Arab culture and did so with out betraying his loyalty to all or surrendering his loyalty to any.
Further, Lawrence's keen ability to describe his surroundings and elevate the events, of which he was often the center, is shown in almost every chapter. He was able, through the generous length of his narrative, to share both bristling detail and a sense of the intricacy of the events he portrays. He often took time to share descriptions of the terrain and the weather which provide background for his continuing struggle. At the same time this detail provides as sense of both a documentary approach and also the drama of his escapades. The portraits of the Arab leaders from Abdulla and Auda to Feisel are fascinating in their detail and psychological insight. Lawrence, it seems, was born for this journey and fated to share it with us. In doing so he acted upon his dream 'with open eyes' and made it happen. In a book filled with deception on both sides he gives us a view into the world before the end of World War I changed everything. We see the various Arab factions and the deals made with the British. More importantly we are given insight into the men through Lawrence's eyes, his acute judgement, and his poetic narrative. He notes the keys to the Arab Revolt in the common language they shared and their heritage of the greatness that existed under the Caliphs going back to the six centuries following the death of Muhammad. We share in his pangs of conscience and his judgments of others and his own life and actions.
He notes that "feeling and illusion were at war within me" reminding me of the birth of modernity with Faustian man. Also important are his comments on the British in the Middle East and the nature of the soldier in war. Reading this treatise was a moving experience as I gradually found support for my own subjunctive mood in this inspirational book.
February 3, 2023
Poor edition of a 5 star book
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: April 21, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B004XMQ6J0
This review is for SEVEN PILLARS of WISDOM [Illustrated with Working TOC], released April 21, 2011, 592 pages. These remarks apply to that edition only. The description contains its own warning as to what to expect. "Some language has been Americanized for better comprehension." It has been recognized that this book is literature, not completely accurate history. Some (including myself) call it great literature. Yet somone thought it a good idea to rewrite it. In addition to being "Americanized", this volume is missing "Note on the spelling of proper names," (a bit of humor by Lawrence); the controversial dedication poem "To S.A."; and the "Author's Preface". Another reviewer observes that other things are missing as well. Better editions of this five star book are available from Amazon.
Note that as usual Amazon and Goodreads have combined reviews of different editions.
Review of Kindle edition
Publication date: April 21, 2011
Language: English
ASIN: B004XMQ6J0
This review is for SEVEN PILLARS of WISDOM [Illustrated with Working TOC], released April 21, 2011, 592 pages. These remarks apply to that edition only. The description contains its own warning as to what to expect. "Some language has been Americanized for better comprehension." It has been recognized that this book is literature, not completely accurate history. Some (including myself) call it great literature. Yet somone thought it a good idea to rewrite it. In addition to being "Americanized", this volume is missing "Note on the spelling of proper names," (a bit of humor by Lawrence); the controversial dedication poem "To S.A."; and the "Author's Preface". Another reviewer observes that other things are missing as well. Better editions of this five star book are available from Amazon.
Note that as usual Amazon and Goodreads have combined reviews of different editions.
April 7, 2012
Well, I've been working on this one for a while. It is by turns majestic, tiresome, enigmatic, and written in the grand manner of the 19th Century. It is interesting to find the big moments of the film, "Lawrence of Arabia", almost made light of in his memoir. He seems to be vain about all the wrong things. I imagine he wasn't a very likable chap but you have to admit he did remarkable things, and I marvel at some of the writing here.
March 26, 2023
"So, let's see if I got that.
Seventeen cappuccinos.
Ten black no sugar.
Fifteen lattes with sugar.
Six espressos.
Four double espressos.
And nine soya milk pumpkin spice lattes."
I joke not. These guys on camels are coffee drinkers.
What the film leaves out takes many pages and miles of sand to get to and (if you have the time) is worth every reading minute. A slow read at times but so is riding by camel. At least there's little risk of dysentery from these pages.
From the start, Lawrence comes across as a humble man to whom great events happened. The book, in contrast to the film, is about a great many others not only himself. The other British in the desert are at times certainly as brave, even more crazed. Lawrence describes them vividly. Then, of course, there is the desert. This is when he is the poet. Expansive as Whitman and as robust, Lawrence celebrates the earth, the sky, and men among men.
Seventeen cappuccinos.
Ten black no sugar.
Fifteen lattes with sugar.
Six espressos.
Four double espressos.
And nine soya milk pumpkin spice lattes."
I joke not. These guys on camels are coffee drinkers.
What the film leaves out takes many pages and miles of sand to get to and (if you have the time) is worth every reading minute. A slow read at times but so is riding by camel. At least there's little risk of dysentery from these pages.
From the start, Lawrence comes across as a humble man to whom great events happened. The book, in contrast to the film, is about a great many others not only himself. The other British in the desert are at times certainly as brave, even more crazed. Lawrence describes them vividly. Then, of course, there is the desert. This is when he is the poet. Expansive as Whitman and as robust, Lawrence celebrates the earth, the sky, and men among men.
July 23, 2012
I was deeply disappointed by this book, but it's possible that was my fault.
Lawrence somehow manages to be self-deprecating and completely arrogant at the same time, in a way that's startlingly oblivious. (At one point, he compares his book to Gibbon's Rise and Fall. Umm, no.) I had hoped that by the end of the book, I would understand both the history of the Arab Revolt during World War I and Lawrence the man better. I'm not sure I actually understand either one better than when I started.
One of the most frustrating problems that quickly emerges is that Lawrence completely assumes that the reader is intimately familiar with all details of the chronology of the war, all of the history of the region, all of the people involved. We're dropped right into the middle and never given the slightest orientation. If events happen off page, we're lucky to ever hear about them. Allenby is tossed off as if we are as familiar with him as we are with Churchill--we get no real description of him, we never even get a first name, and I don't think there's even a title attached at first. (He's the British general in charge of the entire theater, by the way. The only reason I know this is because I saw the movie. God knows, I wouldn't have figured it out until halfway through the book, otherwise.) Allenby's capture of Jerusalem, a major turning point in the war? Mentioned in the second half of a sentance.
It's like this for everything. One can never tell how important a given event might be. Major battles Lawrence is in may get two pages. Major battles Lawrence was not in are lucky to be a passing reference. The capture of major intelligence is "we found letters of interest" (whose contents are never disclosed), the thwarting of a would-be spy is a nondescript paraphrased conversation. But a description of a completely random and meaningless feast? Four pages, in great detail. A very lame joke Lawrence once made? We get every detail, from the set-up, doubling back into the backstory of why it's funny, and then a detailed description of everyone's reaction. We find out that they've run out of supplies two chapters ago when there's finally an off-hand reference to the fact they've had no food for days. There's no way to actually understand the course of the war or any of the decisions made. There's no sense of tension, because it's never possible to evaluate stakes. It's just a never-ending round of meeting Arabs who will never be mentioned again and blowing up train tracks without a description of how it affects anything. The events of the book are as featureless as the desert itself.
As for Lawrence himself, we hear a great deal of meaningless detail but very little of importance. I know all about his costume, but not why he chose that particular costume. I know about how one time, he lay down and when he woke up, there were lice that crawled out of his hair. But I have no idea of why he was in Arabia in the first place. I know about his very mixed feelings about the English using the Arabs, but I don't know how he got himself into the situation. There is one shockingly intimate chapter in which he is captured in Deraa, tortured, possibly raped (or "just" sexually assaulted, it's not entirely clear). At the end, he declares that the citadel of his integrity has been breached, but it's never really mentioned again. The combination of English reserve and the overall oblique style makes it difficult to see how such a life-shattering event affected him. We know all about external details. He gives tiny hints of interal torment here and there. But we never get enough information to really understand how his mind works, despite spending almost 700 pages in it.
What we do know is that he likes flowery language. The writing is lyrical unto purple, with bits of elaborate racist theories thrown in for spice. It's beautiful, all right, but nearly opaque. Makes great cover, added to all that English reserve, so that you have to read paragraphs three times to actually figure out what the heck just happened.
Not helping are some typographical choices that I don't know who to blame for. There's a certain inability to stick to spellings. Feisal is spelled Faysul at random sometimes, for example; Jidda is Jeddah, and so on. When there's a new person introduced every other page (and usually dropped two pages later), it makes it difficult to keep track. Also, while the chapters are not named but just numbered, the top of every page has its own name. These names, however, are vague enough as to be no help at all in understanding what's going on or in finding a certain section. Someone spent a great deal of time labelling every single page with things like "Hunger and Precaution", followed by "Messengers", or "Safely Away"/"Over the Plain"/"Hot Winds"/"Until Sunset". ("Until Sunset" is a paragraph and a half. Seriously. This was worth taking the time to give its own name?)
The story is a fascinating one. It's a shame I didn't get to read it.
Lawrence somehow manages to be self-deprecating and completely arrogant at the same time, in a way that's startlingly oblivious. (At one point, he compares his book to Gibbon's Rise and Fall. Umm, no.) I had hoped that by the end of the book, I would understand both the history of the Arab Revolt during World War I and Lawrence the man better. I'm not sure I actually understand either one better than when I started.
One of the most frustrating problems that quickly emerges is that Lawrence completely assumes that the reader is intimately familiar with all details of the chronology of the war, all of the history of the region, all of the people involved. We're dropped right into the middle and never given the slightest orientation. If events happen off page, we're lucky to ever hear about them. Allenby is tossed off as if we are as familiar with him as we are with Churchill--we get no real description of him, we never even get a first name, and I don't think there's even a title attached at first. (He's the British general in charge of the entire theater, by the way. The only reason I know this is because I saw the movie. God knows, I wouldn't have figured it out until halfway through the book, otherwise.) Allenby's capture of Jerusalem, a major turning point in the war? Mentioned in the second half of a sentance.
It's like this for everything. One can never tell how important a given event might be. Major battles Lawrence is in may get two pages. Major battles Lawrence was not in are lucky to be a passing reference. The capture of major intelligence is "we found letters of interest" (whose contents are never disclosed), the thwarting of a would-be spy is a nondescript paraphrased conversation. But a description of a completely random and meaningless feast? Four pages, in great detail. A very lame joke Lawrence once made? We get every detail, from the set-up, doubling back into the backstory of why it's funny, and then a detailed description of everyone's reaction. We find out that they've run out of supplies two chapters ago when there's finally an off-hand reference to the fact they've had no food for days. There's no way to actually understand the course of the war or any of the decisions made. There's no sense of tension, because it's never possible to evaluate stakes. It's just a never-ending round of meeting Arabs who will never be mentioned again and blowing up train tracks without a description of how it affects anything. The events of the book are as featureless as the desert itself.
As for Lawrence himself, we hear a great deal of meaningless detail but very little of importance. I know all about his costume, but not why he chose that particular costume. I know about how one time, he lay down and when he woke up, there were lice that crawled out of his hair. But I have no idea of why he was in Arabia in the first place. I know about his very mixed feelings about the English using the Arabs, but I don't know how he got himself into the situation. There is one shockingly intimate chapter in which he is captured in Deraa, tortured, possibly raped (or "just" sexually assaulted, it's not entirely clear). At the end, he declares that the citadel of his integrity has been breached, but it's never really mentioned again. The combination of English reserve and the overall oblique style makes it difficult to see how such a life-shattering event affected him. We know all about external details. He gives tiny hints of interal torment here and there. But we never get enough information to really understand how his mind works, despite spending almost 700 pages in it.
What we do know is that he likes flowery language. The writing is lyrical unto purple, with bits of elaborate racist theories thrown in for spice. It's beautiful, all right, but nearly opaque. Makes great cover, added to all that English reserve, so that you have to read paragraphs three times to actually figure out what the heck just happened.
Not helping are some typographical choices that I don't know who to blame for. There's a certain inability to stick to spellings. Feisal is spelled Faysul at random sometimes, for example; Jidda is Jeddah, and so on. When there's a new person introduced every other page (and usually dropped two pages later), it makes it difficult to keep track. Also, while the chapters are not named but just numbered, the top of every page has its own name. These names, however, are vague enough as to be no help at all in understanding what's going on or in finding a certain section. Someone spent a great deal of time labelling every single page with things like "Hunger and Precaution", followed by "Messengers", or "Safely Away"/"Over the Plain"/"Hot Winds"/"Until Sunset". ("Until Sunset" is a paragraph and a half. Seriously. This was worth taking the time to give its own name?)
The story is a fascinating one. It's a shame I didn't get to read it.
January 12, 2014
Thomas Edward Lawrence's meticulously written account of his fascinating life during World War I is one of the literary treasures of the Twentieth Century. Lawrence had graduated with honors from Oxford University in 1910. He had a fascination with medieval history, and had traveled as a student to study Crusader castles in France and Syria the summer before his graduation. He worked professionally as an archaeologist in the Middle East until 1914, with extensive travel through the Ottoman Empire's possessions, including the current Jordan, Syria and Iraq. During early 1914, he was part of a geographical survey of the Negev Desert, which served as a cover for the British government in its attempts to gather intelligence on the terrain of this Ottoman-controlled area which would become important to military operations in the event of a war.
When that war came, Lawrence was commissioned as an intelligence officer assigned to British army headquarters in Cairo. He would later function as the liaison officer working with the Arab irregulars and guerrillas fighting an internal insurgency against the Ottomans. The British plan was to funnel large amounts of money and munitions to the Arabs, letting them distract and weaken the key German ally, Turkey. Lawrence became a key advisor of Emir Faisal and a trusted subordinate of the British commander in the area, General Edmund Allenby. His years of fighting on behalf of the Arabs, wearing the desert robes while traveling everywhere on camelback, helped him identify intensely with the cause of Arab independence. He was involved with the guerilla operations against the Hejaz railway and, in 1917, was instrumental in the successful surprise attack against the strategic town of Aqaba. The culmination of his military exploits in the desert was his participation in the conquering of Damascus late in 1918, and the consequent installation of a provisional Arab government under Faisal.
After the shooting stopped, Lawrence would become disillusioned over the knowledge that the cause of Arab independence had been undermined by the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement negotiated during the war to divide the Middle East under French-British influence.
Many of Lawrence's exploits are chronicled in "Seven Pillars of Wisdom." However, the text available to most readers today is from revised editions of the original. Lawrence wrote a manuscript from his notes and his memory in 1919, reported to contain 250,000 words. The title is from the Book of Proverbs, and is also the name bestowed by Lawrence on a rock formation at Wadi Run (now located in Jordan) during the war. This first manuscript was the one that was lost in a railway car and never recovered. A second, longer, text was reconstructed from Lawrence's memory in 1920. During 1921, a third edition was published; this is referred to as the Oxford edition, and was printed in just eight copies. Later, in the mid-1920's, a subscribers' edition with a printing of 200 copies was released. Lawrence lost money on all of these editions.
Finally, an abridged version was authorized by Lawrence to be printed for more general circulation; this edition was titled "Revolt in the Desert." Lawrence assigned the profits from this book, which became a best seller, and from his other writings to trusts which generously funded the RAF Benevolent Fund. His surviving brother A.W. Lawrence later (in the 1930's) sold the U.S. copyright to "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" to Doubleday Doran, of which this reviewed edition derives.
As you can see, Lawrence's need for frugality and privacy trumped trying to get rich from his war adventures, even though he did feel strongly that the events occurring in Arabia at that time needed to be recorded. There was little chance for Lawrence to live in post-war obscurity, however, since media exposure from Lowell Thomas made him famous. Thomas was a war correspondent who traveled with Lawrence and Faisal. He took many photographs and even had a cameraman to film some of the action surrounding the battles with the Turks. After the war, Thomas became rich as the narrator of a slide show of the Arab revolt which toured the world; it was especially well received in London. He was shrewd enough to exploit Lawrence's dashing persona, going so far as to have additional photographs taken of Lawrence in his robes in London after the war in order to add to the visual appeal of the picture show, which was titled: "With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia."
All of this unwanted attention, disillusionment, war-and-literary fatigue caused Lawrence to literally drop out of public view. By 1922, when he was still in the process of directing the printing of various editions of his memoir, he joined the Royal Air Force as an enlisted man. This former officer (I think he rose to the rank of Lt. Col. in the war) served humbly, if bizzarly, under the names of John Ross and T.F. Shaw; he also served for a time in the Royal Tank Corps, until the age of 35. He died at the age of 46 in a motorcycle accident.
I had wanted to read "Seven Pillars ..." for some time, having read a biography of Lawrence when I was in high school. That book, by an author I don't recall, gave an interesting account of Lawrence's life, but referred to the literary beauty and authenticity inherent in Lawrence's own words. It would be interesting to be able to read through one of the exquisitely bound and illustrated early, rare editions of "Seven Pillars ..." , regardless of how many hundreds of thousands of words are contained therein, but a later, widely available abridged edition will have to suffice and, in the end, is very satisfying.
When that war came, Lawrence was commissioned as an intelligence officer assigned to British army headquarters in Cairo. He would later function as the liaison officer working with the Arab irregulars and guerrillas fighting an internal insurgency against the Ottomans. The British plan was to funnel large amounts of money and munitions to the Arabs, letting them distract and weaken the key German ally, Turkey. Lawrence became a key advisor of Emir Faisal and a trusted subordinate of the British commander in the area, General Edmund Allenby. His years of fighting on behalf of the Arabs, wearing the desert robes while traveling everywhere on camelback, helped him identify intensely with the cause of Arab independence. He was involved with the guerilla operations against the Hejaz railway and, in 1917, was instrumental in the successful surprise attack against the strategic town of Aqaba. The culmination of his military exploits in the desert was his participation in the conquering of Damascus late in 1918, and the consequent installation of a provisional Arab government under Faisal.
After the shooting stopped, Lawrence would become disillusioned over the knowledge that the cause of Arab independence had been undermined by the secret Sykes-Picot Agreement negotiated during the war to divide the Middle East under French-British influence.
Many of Lawrence's exploits are chronicled in "Seven Pillars of Wisdom." However, the text available to most readers today is from revised editions of the original. Lawrence wrote a manuscript from his notes and his memory in 1919, reported to contain 250,000 words. The title is from the Book of Proverbs, and is also the name bestowed by Lawrence on a rock formation at Wadi Run (now located in Jordan) during the war. This first manuscript was the one that was lost in a railway car and never recovered. A second, longer, text was reconstructed from Lawrence's memory in 1920. During 1921, a third edition was published; this is referred to as the Oxford edition, and was printed in just eight copies. Later, in the mid-1920's, a subscribers' edition with a printing of 200 copies was released. Lawrence lost money on all of these editions.
Finally, an abridged version was authorized by Lawrence to be printed for more general circulation; this edition was titled "Revolt in the Desert." Lawrence assigned the profits from this book, which became a best seller, and from his other writings to trusts which generously funded the RAF Benevolent Fund. His surviving brother A.W. Lawrence later (in the 1930's) sold the U.S. copyright to "Seven Pillars of Wisdom" to Doubleday Doran, of which this reviewed edition derives.
As you can see, Lawrence's need for frugality and privacy trumped trying to get rich from his war adventures, even though he did feel strongly that the events occurring in Arabia at that time needed to be recorded. There was little chance for Lawrence to live in post-war obscurity, however, since media exposure from Lowell Thomas made him famous. Thomas was a war correspondent who traveled with Lawrence and Faisal. He took many photographs and even had a cameraman to film some of the action surrounding the battles with the Turks. After the war, Thomas became rich as the narrator of a slide show of the Arab revolt which toured the world; it was especially well received in London. He was shrewd enough to exploit Lawrence's dashing persona, going so far as to have additional photographs taken of Lawrence in his robes in London after the war in order to add to the visual appeal of the picture show, which was titled: "With Allenby in Palestine and Lawrence in Arabia."
All of this unwanted attention, disillusionment, war-and-literary fatigue caused Lawrence to literally drop out of public view. By 1922, when he was still in the process of directing the printing of various editions of his memoir, he joined the Royal Air Force as an enlisted man. This former officer (I think he rose to the rank of Lt. Col. in the war) served humbly, if bizzarly, under the names of John Ross and T.F. Shaw; he also served for a time in the Royal Tank Corps, until the age of 35. He died at the age of 46 in a motorcycle accident.
I had wanted to read "Seven Pillars ..." for some time, having read a biography of Lawrence when I was in high school. That book, by an author I don't recall, gave an interesting account of Lawrence's life, but referred to the literary beauty and authenticity inherent in Lawrence's own words. It would be interesting to be able to read through one of the exquisitely bound and illustrated early, rare editions of "Seven Pillars ..." , regardless of how many hundreds of thousands of words are contained therein, but a later, widely available abridged edition will have to suffice and, in the end, is very satisfying.
January 28, 2024
3.5 stars rounded up
“My proper share was a minor one, but because of a fluent pen, a free speech, and a certain adroitness of brain, I took upon myself, as I describe it, a mock primacy. In reality I never had any office among the Arabs, was never in charge of the British mission with them….
So I had to join the conspiracy, and, for what my word was worth, assured the men of their reward. In our two years’ partnership under fire they grew accustomed to believing me and to think my Government, like myself, sincere. In this hope they performed some fine things but, of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed.”
This is not an easy book to review. The film is much better known. The film is a magnificent piece of cinematography (as well as being endless), but it focuses much more on Lawrence than the book does. The book is a chronological account of Lawrence’s time in Arabia in the last two years of the war. It isn’t just a then I did this, then I did that account. Lawrence describes the minutiae of daily lie, food, customs, tribal relations, the idiosyncrasies of camels and the pitfalls of desert travel.
We now know many things that Lawrence did not. He suspected that the British and the French would betray the Arabs after the war, but hoped they wouldn’t. We know now that was the intention all along. The Balfour Declaration of November 1917 meant the British government had promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine. As Koestler said “One nation solemnly promised to a second nation, the country of a third”. Palestine was ninety percent Arab. Churchill expressed it more succinctly:
“I do not agree that a dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time… I do not admit that a wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race… has come in and taken their place.”
Enough of the imperialists for now.
The title is from the Book of Proverbs:
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”
The book was written and rewritten. Lawrence lost most of the first draft at Reading railway station in 1919 and had to start again. Lawrence had kept notes whilst all this happened and wrote again. It is a very personal version of events and stands alongside similar accounts from the Western Front. Lawrence was illegitimate, the son of a baronet and a governess and had trained as an archaeologist. He was involved in the peace conferences after the war and became disillusioned (more disillusioned). He hated the publicity and his notoriety. Lawrence re-enlisted under a different name. He died young (46) in a motorcycle accident.
One of the many questions has always been was Lawrence queer. To my reading it would seem so, he was clearly much more at ease in the company of men. The book’s dedication is a poem to SA, possibly Selim Ahmed, written by Lawrence:
I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky in stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: And now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift.
Lawrence also recounts his capture by the Turks, his rape and torture, which did have a profound effect on him.
Lawrence is complex personality. He is serving his country with ambivalence. He is not an innocent, but is naïve. He respected the Arabs and their culture, but still did what he did knowing that is was possible, even likely that the Allied powers would betray the Arab uprising. It’s a fascinating account and it is difficult to assess how much is absolutely true. Nevertheless it is worth reading. The imperialism is present, but Lawrence’s role has nuance (unlike Churchill’s).
“My proper share was a minor one, but because of a fluent pen, a free speech, and a certain adroitness of brain, I took upon myself, as I describe it, a mock primacy. In reality I never had any office among the Arabs, was never in charge of the British mission with them….
So I had to join the conspiracy, and, for what my word was worth, assured the men of their reward. In our two years’ partnership under fire they grew accustomed to believing me and to think my Government, like myself, sincere. In this hope they performed some fine things but, of course, instead of being proud of what we did together, I was continually and bitterly ashamed.”
This is not an easy book to review. The film is much better known. The film is a magnificent piece of cinematography (as well as being endless), but it focuses much more on Lawrence than the book does. The book is a chronological account of Lawrence’s time in Arabia in the last two years of the war. It isn’t just a then I did this, then I did that account. Lawrence describes the minutiae of daily lie, food, customs, tribal relations, the idiosyncrasies of camels and the pitfalls of desert travel.
We now know many things that Lawrence did not. He suspected that the British and the French would betray the Arabs after the war, but hoped they wouldn’t. We know now that was the intention all along. The Balfour Declaration of November 1917 meant the British government had promised the Jews a homeland in Palestine. As Koestler said “One nation solemnly promised to a second nation, the country of a third”. Palestine was ninety percent Arab. Churchill expressed it more succinctly:
“I do not agree that a dog in a manger has the final right to the manger even though he may have lain there for a very long time… I do not admit that a wrong has been done to the Red Indians of America or the black people of Australia. I do not admit that a wrong has been done to these people by the fact that a stronger race, a higher grade race, a more worldly-wise race… has come in and taken their place.”
Enough of the imperialists for now.
The title is from the Book of Proverbs:
“Wisdom hath builded her house, she hath hewn out her seven pillars”
The book was written and rewritten. Lawrence lost most of the first draft at Reading railway station in 1919 and had to start again. Lawrence had kept notes whilst all this happened and wrote again. It is a very personal version of events and stands alongside similar accounts from the Western Front. Lawrence was illegitimate, the son of a baronet and a governess and had trained as an archaeologist. He was involved in the peace conferences after the war and became disillusioned (more disillusioned). He hated the publicity and his notoriety. Lawrence re-enlisted under a different name. He died young (46) in a motorcycle accident.
One of the many questions has always been was Lawrence queer. To my reading it would seem so, he was clearly much more at ease in the company of men. The book’s dedication is a poem to SA, possibly Selim Ahmed, written by Lawrence:
I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky in stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: And now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift.
Lawrence also recounts his capture by the Turks, his rape and torture, which did have a profound effect on him.
Lawrence is complex personality. He is serving his country with ambivalence. He is not an innocent, but is naïve. He respected the Arabs and their culture, but still did what he did knowing that is was possible, even likely that the Allied powers would betray the Arab uprising. It’s a fascinating account and it is difficult to assess how much is absolutely true. Nevertheless it is worth reading. The imperialism is present, but Lawrence’s role has nuance (unlike Churchill’s).
April 14, 2013
يتحدث الكتاب عن الثورة العربية ضد تركيا العثمانية، وأول ما يستغرب تسميتها بالثورة العربية.. فحتى قائدها هو لورنس وليس الشريف حسين.. وهو ما صرح به لورنس في كتابه أكثر من مرة مباشرةً أو مواربة، مثل قوله في الصفحة 187: "... خولني أن أصبح في أقل من ستة شهور رجل الثقة التامة في سوريا. مما حملني على أن أقسم بيني وبين نفسي على أن أجعل من الثورة العربية أداةً تعمل لغاية ذاتية، أكثر منها خادمة لجيشنا البريطاني، وأخذت عهداً بأن أقودها، بأي ثمن، إلى النصر عل الرغم من انتهازية الدول الكبرى...". وطبعاً لم تكن الثورة إلا أداة للآخرين.
بل كان يعتبر نفسه أحياناً نبياً، حيث صرح في الصفحة 96:" كان على المستشارين أن يعلموا أن العرب إذا ما ركبوا متن عقيدة واسلموا زمام أمرهم إلى نبي مدجج بالسلاح وأوكلوا إليه توجيه جهودهم غير المحدودة فإن في استطاعة الأيدي الماهرة أن تصل بهم ليس إلى دمشق فحسب بل إلى القسطنطينية أيضاً".
وفي الصفحة رقم 10 يصف لورنس مهمته مع العرب: "لقد انتدبت للعيش مع هؤلاء العرب كغريب عاجز عن مجاراتهم في التفكير والمعتقد، مجبراً على تدريبهم وتوجيههم في الاتجاه الذي يتفق مع مصالح بريطانيا المتحاربة مع عدوهم. وإذا كنت قد عجزت عن تفحص شخصيتهم، فقد نجحت على الأقل في إخفاء شخصيتي عنهم واستطعت أن أندمج كلياً في حياتهم دون احتجاج ولا انتقاد. وبما أنني كنت رفيقهم فلن أحاول اليوم وقد عدت إلى ارتداء الزي البريطاني الثناء عليهم أو الدفاع عنهم. بل سأحرص على أن أصور الأحداث كما عشتها". يعني بصريح العبارة ضحك عليهم..
ومن الأمور التي استغربتها، وجود العبيد حتى ذلك الوقت عند العرب. وعدد الجيوش التي ساهمت في الثورة العربية (البريطاني بفرقه من الهنود، الفرنسي، والاسترالي، وكذلك الخيانات والتناحرات من الشريف حسين وجر. والأكثر غرابةً أن الدافع الأكبر للثورة كانت الغنائم والأسلاب وأعطيات الأنكليز..
أنا بالأساس لست مغرماً بالثورات، وإذا أردنا تشريح ما حققته هذه الثورة من أهداف يمكنكم معرفة أسبابي. هدف الثورة العربية الأساس كان التخلص من دولة الخلافة العثمانية الظالمة والفاسدة. وتحقق هذا الهدف بالصدفة لأنه كان هدف بريطانيا ودول المحور. والتي حققت أهداف أكثر مما كان يحلم به الشريف حسين وابنه فيصل.. فتم تقسيم ما حرر حسب اتفاقية سايكس بيكو.. واستبدل الحكم العثماني بحكم فرنسي أو انكليزي حسب الاتفاقية.. وكإجرة لخدمات الإنكليزي دفع العرب ثمن ما قامو به من وهب فلسطين لليهود.. فهل كانت ثورة ناجحة؟؟!!
بل كان يعتبر نفسه أحياناً نبياً، حيث صرح في الصفحة 96:" كان على المستشارين أن يعلموا أن العرب إذا ما ركبوا متن عقيدة واسلموا زمام أمرهم إلى نبي مدجج بالسلاح وأوكلوا إليه توجيه جهودهم غير المحدودة فإن في استطاعة الأيدي الماهرة أن تصل بهم ليس إلى دمشق فحسب بل إلى القسطنطينية أيضاً".
وفي الصفحة رقم 10 يصف لورنس مهمته مع العرب: "لقد انتدبت للعيش مع هؤلاء العرب كغريب عاجز عن مجاراتهم في التفكير والمعتقد، مجبراً على تدريبهم وتوجيههم في الاتجاه الذي يتفق مع مصالح بريطانيا المتحاربة مع عدوهم. وإذا كنت قد عجزت عن تفحص شخصيتهم، فقد نجحت على الأقل في إخفاء شخصيتي عنهم واستطعت أن أندمج كلياً في حياتهم دون احتجاج ولا انتقاد. وبما أنني كنت رفيقهم فلن أحاول اليوم وقد عدت إلى ارتداء الزي البريطاني الثناء عليهم أو الدفاع عنهم. بل سأحرص على أن أصور الأحداث كما عشتها". يعني بصريح العبارة ضحك عليهم..
ومن الأمور التي استغربتها، وجود العبيد حتى ذلك الوقت عند العرب. وعدد الجيوش التي ساهمت في الثورة العربية (البريطاني بفرقه من الهنود، الفرنسي، والاسترالي، وكذلك الخيانات والتناحرات من الشريف حسين وجر. والأكثر غرابةً أن الدافع الأكبر للثورة كانت الغنائم والأسلاب وأعطيات الأنكليز..
أنا بالأساس لست مغرماً بالثورات، وإذا أردنا تشريح ما حققته هذه الثورة من أهداف يمكنكم معرفة أسبابي. هدف الثورة العربية الأساس كان التخلص من دولة الخلافة العثمانية الظالمة والفاسدة. وتحقق هذا الهدف بالصدفة لأنه كان هدف بريطانيا ودول المحور. والتي حققت أهداف أكثر مما كان يحلم به الشريف حسين وابنه فيصل.. فتم تقسيم ما حرر حسب اتفاقية سايكس بيكو.. واستبدل الحكم العثماني بحكم فرنسي أو انكليزي حسب الاتفاقية.. وكإجرة لخدمات الإنكليزي دفع العرب ثمن ما قامو به من وهب فلسطين لليهود.. فهل كانت ثورة ناجحة؟؟!!
October 9, 2020
Since battles and warfare are not really my thing, I am amazed how much I enjoyed reading Seven Pillars of Wisdom. In this beautifully written memoir, Lawrence gave us an honest account of his role in the Arab revolt, his hopes on making Damascus the capital of the Arabs, but also his doubts about the whole endeavor. I love how he blended in with the Arabs, learning their language and their customs, riding the camels in the Arab way, becoming one of them. That they loved him and accepted him as one of their own becomes clear in the final chapters leading up to the taking of Damascus, when the Arabs saw him negotiating with the English to get supplies and ammunition to prepare for the capture of the city:
Never could I forget the radiant face of Nuri Said, after a joint conference, encountering a group of Arab officers with the cheerful words, 'Never mind, you fellows; he talks to the English just as he does to us!'
The history is fascinating, and so are his descriptions of desert life, the sand storms and mirages, the annoying insects, the camels, and the oases. I found it beautifully written, well worth reading.
Never could I forget the radiant face of Nuri Said, after a joint conference, encountering a group of Arab officers with the cheerful words, 'Never mind, you fellows; he talks to the English just as he does to us!'
The history is fascinating, and so are his descriptions of desert life, the sand storms and mirages, the annoying insects, the camels, and the oases. I found it beautifully written, well worth reading.
July 10, 2017
I've read this book twice now, and seen the film countless times. When a colleague once asked me which was my favourite war film, I didn't need to think about it for long.
But as is usually the case, the book blows the film away. For detail of the inside story of the war in the East, description of life with the Arabs in the desert, and sheer adventure, it's unparalleled. It is also directly relevant to our day, for as TE Lawrence wrote:
"We could see that a new factor was needed in the East […] No encouragement was given us by history to think that these qualities could be supplied ready-made from Europe. The efforts of the European Powers to keep a footing in the Asiatic Levant had been uniformly disastrous […] Our successor and solution must be local".
A shame Tony Blair with his privileged education didn't read that passage. And as for Syria:
“the Syrians had their de facto government, which endured for two years, without foreign advice, in an occupied country wasted by war, and against the will of important elements among the Allies”
If people like TE Lawrence who know what they are talking about, were listened to, the Middle East wouldn't be in the mess it is now. But it's always the same in politics: the decision-makers are by definition those who are closest to the fount of all power, and furthest away from the real world.
But as is usually the case, the book blows the film away. For detail of the inside story of the war in the East, description of life with the Arabs in the desert, and sheer adventure, it's unparalleled. It is also directly relevant to our day, for as TE Lawrence wrote:
"We could see that a new factor was needed in the East […] No encouragement was given us by history to think that these qualities could be supplied ready-made from Europe. The efforts of the European Powers to keep a footing in the Asiatic Levant had been uniformly disastrous […] Our successor and solution must be local".
A shame Tony Blair with his privileged education didn't read that passage. And as for Syria:
“the Syrians had their de facto government, which endured for two years, without foreign advice, in an occupied country wasted by war, and against the will of important elements among the Allies”
If people like TE Lawrence who know what they are talking about, were listened to, the Middle East wouldn't be in the mess it is now. But it's always the same in politics: the decision-makers are by definition those who are closest to the fount of all power, and furthest away from the real world.
February 26, 2023
Seven Pillars of Wisdom is T.E. Lawrence's brilliant memoir of the Arab Revolt against Ottoman Turkey during WWI, first published in a limited subscriber’s edition in 1926 and still in print nine decades later. It's endured in popularity for various reasons: the epic contours of its story (which, of course, inspired a classic movie), the analyses of Bedouin culture, guerrilla warfare and imperial power politics, and the author's bracing autobiography, at once self-promoting and self-loathing, deceptive and painfully honest. Its shortcomings are plentiful: Lawrence's prose ranges from beautifully evocative to stilted, even comically florid; his descriptions of Arabs, Turks and other Middle Easterners swim in poetic Orientalism; and his veracity about specific incidents is, to be kind, often doubtful. But the book's mythopoetic portraiture remains highly readable for all that. Lawrence evokes the beauty of Wadi Rumm, Azrak and other desert locales, or the thrilling sweep of train attacks and mounted charges as skillfully as any novelist (or, indeed, film director), just as the book's more squalid episodes (accounts of sickness, infighting among Lawrence’s allies, failed missions and Lawrence's own degradation in Deraa, the most controversial incident of the book) ring with palpable, if perhaps not absolute truth. Even the book’s more dubious passages seem less like lies, as Lawrence’s detractors would claim, than the memoirist’s habit of prettifying messy events for easier reading, a forgivable fault rather than a mortal sin. But most compelling of all is Lawrence’s searching self-portrait: a brilliant, ambitious young man granted his lifelong dream of molding men and nations, only to find the reality a mixture of deceit, frustration and bloodshed that wounds his soul, brings his lust for power and repressed sexuality to the surface, and leaves him "continually and bitterly ashamed." A classic, and my favorite book.
Read
January 11, 2022Uma história extraordinária. Um homem extraordinário.
Apresentou-se na Conferência de Paris nas suas exóticas vestes árabes, um homem misterioso, querendo devolver aos árabes os seus domínios.
Um contador de histórias nato e um verdadeiro espírito do deserto. Há tanto dentro desta casa dos sete pilares da sabedoria que, vale a pena lermos atentamente cada página desta epopeia moderna.
Nem as exuberantes interpretações (e belíssima fotografia) da obra cinematográfica permitem dispensar a leitura deste livro.
A vida de Lawrence foi destinada à glória e ao desejo de ser esquecido. Mas, o homem que uniu as tribos árabes na luta contra os turcos durante a I Guerra Mundial, permanece. E ainda bem que deixou esta magnífica obra, mesmo que alguns episódios se pareçam aos sonhos impossíveis de um nómada.
Maravilhoso.
Haveria muito para citar mas, o poema com que Lawrence inagura a sua obra, é suficiente:
"I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When we came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift"
Apresentou-se na Conferência de Paris nas suas exóticas vestes árabes, um homem misterioso, querendo devolver aos árabes os seus domínios.
Um contador de histórias nato e um verdadeiro espírito do deserto. Há tanto dentro desta casa dos sete pilares da sabedoria que, vale a pena lermos atentamente cada página desta epopeia moderna.
Nem as exuberantes interpretações (e belíssima fotografia) da obra cinematográfica permitem dispensar a leitura deste livro.
A vida de Lawrence foi destinada à glória e ao desejo de ser esquecido. Mas, o homem que uniu as tribos árabes na luta contra os turcos durante a I Guerra Mundial, permanece. E ainda bem que deixou esta magnífica obra, mesmo que alguns episódios se pareçam aos sonhos impossíveis de um nómada.
Maravilhoso.
Haveria muito para citar mas, o poema com que Lawrence inagura a sua obra, é suficiente:
"I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky and stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When we came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift"
July 11, 2013
I’m going to first off state something very confusing. I really loved this book. I love T.E. Lawrence, I think he’s an enigmatic, mysterious and overall heroic man... however, I didn't actually finish the book.
If you aren’t quite sure of who this man is, simply think back to that amazing, award winning movie, “Lawrence of Arabia.” Lawrence’s main initiative in this book is to act as an intermediate between the rebel forces of Arabia and the English, who were organizing against the Ottoman Turk’s. More then anything, the book is about the unification of Saudi Arabia and the many conflicts which helped to achieve that end.
Although this is generally thought of as an Autobiography, especially since it was written by T.E. Lawrence himself, I hesitate in naming it as such. There is a lot of controversy that surrounds Lawrence, and, while the word of the man himself should be the most accurate, there are general rumblings about whether many events have been embellished. So, this is, as Charles Hill has stated, “”a novel traveling under the cover of autobiography.” (Spoiler)
The books extends from Lawrence’s first rumblings of revolt against the Turk’s. It’s very clear by his writing that Lawrence has absolutely no respect for the Turk’s, whom he views as culturally absent and reliant upon numbers, rather then strategy and wit. He frequently travels across the country, eventually uniting enough tribes to push the Turk’s from nearly every major post by sabotaging the huge Hejaz Railway that extends from the north to the south. The main drive of the book is to capture Damascus for the Arabs, which can only be achieved by the outstanding military ambition of Emir Faisal.
Faisal is one of the major individuals of the war, whom acted as a united front against the Turk’s and a close fried to Lawrence himself. Unlike in the movie, there is almost no mention of Ali, who seems to be taken from Faisal’s character and modified to suit the audience’s favor. There is definitely a sense of hero worship from Lawrence to Faisal, which seems to felt mutually. The level of respect that the English have for the authority figures of the tribes is interesting and increases the general romance of the book.
And here’s where I explain why exactly why I gave this a 3 out of 5. Even though I loved this book and all of the individuals within it, I found it so incredibly difficult to read. As an Australian girl, who is culturally naive and has only visited America and Canada, it was almost incomprehensible to understand exactly what was happening. There is just so many new words, technical terms and long names to remember that I only understood what I was reading by about 150 pages. It’s difficult to admit this but I haven’t actually finished it because it is probably one of the most difficult books I have ever read. And I’ve read a lot of books. Lawrence does have a very poetic style of writing and I think that without that, I wouldn’t have been able to make it past 50 pages. For example:
"For years we lived anyhow with one another in the naked desert, under the indifferent heaven. By day the hot sun fermented us; and we were dizzied by the beating wind. At night we were stained by dew, and shamed into pettiness by the innumerable silences of stars. We were a self-centred army without parade or gesture, devoted to freedom, the second of man’s creeds, a purpose so ravenous that it devoured all our strength, a hope so transcendent that our earlier ambitions faded in its glare."
As you can see by the quote above, Lawrence is immensely talented in his writing and there are scenes that literally make the heart ache with its beauty. However, those moments are often separated by lengthy explanations of who is who, where they are and what strategies they have planned. It is also interesting to note that Lawrence himself is a very unusual and complex person, who is described as being sexually ambiguous, effeminate and strategizing. He isn’t a typical hero, in any sense.
So, for the romance of the book, of Lawrence and of the landscape, I give this book a 3. However, I can not award this book points for readability, consistency of ideas and the quality of the every chapter. I do know that one day I will come back to this book, it’s hard not to when you fall in love with Lawrence, but I don’t think, as a young girl, that I can fully appreciate this book at this stage in my life. However, if you understand what it is to follow complex storyline’s and are interested in the man itself, please do read this book. After all, this is a personal review, based on my own experiences with it.
If you aren’t quite sure of who this man is, simply think back to that amazing, award winning movie, “Lawrence of Arabia.” Lawrence’s main initiative in this book is to act as an intermediate between the rebel forces of Arabia and the English, who were organizing against the Ottoman Turk’s. More then anything, the book is about the unification of Saudi Arabia and the many conflicts which helped to achieve that end.
Although this is generally thought of as an Autobiography, especially since it was written by T.E. Lawrence himself, I hesitate in naming it as such. There is a lot of controversy that surrounds Lawrence, and, while the word of the man himself should be the most accurate, there are general rumblings about whether many events have been embellished. So, this is, as Charles Hill has stated, “”a novel traveling under the cover of autobiography.” (Spoiler)
The books extends from Lawrence’s first rumblings of revolt against the Turk’s. It’s very clear by his writing that Lawrence has absolutely no respect for the Turk’s, whom he views as culturally absent and reliant upon numbers, rather then strategy and wit. He frequently travels across the country, eventually uniting enough tribes to push the Turk’s from nearly every major post by sabotaging the huge Hejaz Railway that extends from the north to the south. The main drive of the book is to capture Damascus for the Arabs, which can only be achieved by the outstanding military ambition of Emir Faisal.
Faisal is one of the major individuals of the war, whom acted as a united front against the Turk’s and a close fried to Lawrence himself. Unlike in the movie, there is almost no mention of Ali, who seems to be taken from Faisal’s character and modified to suit the audience’s favor. There is definitely a sense of hero worship from Lawrence to Faisal, which seems to felt mutually. The level of respect that the English have for the authority figures of the tribes is interesting and increases the general romance of the book.
And here’s where I explain why exactly why I gave this a 3 out of 5. Even though I loved this book and all of the individuals within it, I found it so incredibly difficult to read. As an Australian girl, who is culturally naive and has only visited America and Canada, it was almost incomprehensible to understand exactly what was happening. There is just so many new words, technical terms and long names to remember that I only understood what I was reading by about 150 pages. It’s difficult to admit this but I haven’t actually finished it because it is probably one of the most difficult books I have ever read. And I’ve read a lot of books. Lawrence does have a very poetic style of writing and I think that without that, I wouldn’t have been able to make it past 50 pages. For example:
"For years we lived anyhow with one another in the naked desert, under the indifferent heaven. By day the hot sun fermented us; and we were dizzied by the beating wind. At night we were stained by dew, and shamed into pettiness by the innumerable silences of stars. We were a self-centred army without parade or gesture, devoted to freedom, the second of man’s creeds, a purpose so ravenous that it devoured all our strength, a hope so transcendent that our earlier ambitions faded in its glare."
As you can see by the quote above, Lawrence is immensely talented in his writing and there are scenes that literally make the heart ache with its beauty. However, those moments are often separated by lengthy explanations of who is who, where they are and what strategies they have planned. It is also interesting to note that Lawrence himself is a very unusual and complex person, who is described as being sexually ambiguous, effeminate and strategizing. He isn’t a typical hero, in any sense.
So, for the romance of the book, of Lawrence and of the landscape, I give this book a 3. However, I can not award this book points for readability, consistency of ideas and the quality of the every chapter. I do know that one day I will come back to this book, it’s hard not to when you fall in love with Lawrence, but I don’t think, as a young girl, that I can fully appreciate this book at this stage in my life. However, if you understand what it is to follow complex storyline’s and are interested in the man itself, please do read this book. After all, this is a personal review, based on my own experiences with it.
January 14, 2013
This is the book that the film Lawrence of Arabia is loosely based upon. I say loosely, because after finishing the book I rented the film and watched it all the way through for the first time since I was a kid. It was only then that I realised that although the film is a magnificent piece of film-making, it is very inaccurate in places and often just simply wrong.
T.E. Lawrence was much more extraordinary and his achievements and much more astonishing even than the amazing portrayal of him in the film. But, I suppose the difficulty of making a film of 'Lawrence of Arabia' is, how do you compress so much into so little time and how do you explain certain things simply and quickly. Hence the film seems to me now like a series of snapshots of events that did happen and some that didn't, but perhaps including the made up stuff to make the story on screen flows better.
T.E. Lawrence was like Indiana Jones and James Bond and some SAS type hero all rolled into one. This archaeologist’s assistant was turned down by the Army for being too short. He was no soldier, but he read Clausewitz and all the other great military theorists, created his own war and applied all he learned to great effect. Nobody told him to capture the strategic port of Aqaba - that was his idea. He didn’t even inform his superiors. He enrolled the Arab tribesman in the project, rode across the desert and took it. And that was almost just the start!
There are two books I was reminded of when going through Seven Pillars of Wisdom and they are 'My War Gone By, I Miss It So' by Anthony Lloyd and 'The Lord of The Rings'.
The first because I think this book is surprisingly personal or intimate for a book written shortly after WWI. I was at times actually quite shocked and disturbed by Lawrence’s thoughts and feelings. Not so much that he had them, but that a national hero, who turned down a knighthood and a Victoria Cross not to mention two Croix De Guerres, writing shortly after World War One, would share such things with the general public.
It made me think of Lord Of The Rings not only because what Lawrence did in mostly just two short years is an absolutely epic tale, but because so much of it revolves around ancestor worshiping/respecting tribesmen with bizarre sounding names from bizarre sounding places. So a typical paragraph may be Lawrences meeting with Maahmoud, renowned desert warrior of the Abu-Orense, son of Ali, scourge of the Waddi-Odd, blood enemies of the Abu Tayi, and so on. Fortunately It’s all online and you can search the text to see where those particular names came up before and avoid your head spinning with confusion.
I’m no judge of prose but it seems almost poetic at times. According to Michael Korda, author of ‘Hero: The Life And Legend Of Lawrence Of Arabia’, Lawrence was a skilled writer and examination of his letters demonstrate he would very much alter his style depending on who he was writing to. Korda also describes Lawrence’s description in ‘Seven Pillars Of Wisdom’ of the attack on the train at Mudowwara as the very best of war writing. So much happens in just ten minutes and Lawrence’s style is perfect: the mine is detonated, the Turkish troops on the roofs machine gunned, some Turkish troops take shelter behind a bank and are hit with mortars, the train is looted, some Austrian officers and NCOs are taken prisoner, one of them pulls a pistol and they are massacred by the Arabs, Lawrence has time to reassure and old woman passenger and find her servant/slave, a badly wounded Arab, who Lawrence should have protected is left behind by mistake and Lawrence is distressed as he should have been killed as they cannot take him with them and the Turks will horribly kill the badly wounded, and so on. It makes me think of the helicopter attack scene in the film Apocalypse Now in that a lot happens in short space of time, much of it is horrible, some of it is incongruous and some of it weird, and you are on the edge of your seat trying to imagine what that must have been like. I found the battle scenes compelling. A.P. Wavell (later Field Marshall Wavell) wrote of Lawrence’s description of the battle of Talifah, that it was“one of the best descriptions of a battle ever penned”.
Aside from the battle scenes, many of the descriptions of the Arabs and their way of life are marvellous. It’s just a fantastic book, because its well written and fantastic story nearly every part of which could be independently verified - which is just astonishing. How many men have had such an adventure? Alexander the Great maybe? That’s the sort of League T.E. Lawrence ended up in.
T.E. Lawrence was much more extraordinary and his achievements and much more astonishing even than the amazing portrayal of him in the film. But, I suppose the difficulty of making a film of 'Lawrence of Arabia' is, how do you compress so much into so little time and how do you explain certain things simply and quickly. Hence the film seems to me now like a series of snapshots of events that did happen and some that didn't, but perhaps including the made up stuff to make the story on screen flows better.
T.E. Lawrence was like Indiana Jones and James Bond and some SAS type hero all rolled into one. This archaeologist’s assistant was turned down by the Army for being too short. He was no soldier, but he read Clausewitz and all the other great military theorists, created his own war and applied all he learned to great effect. Nobody told him to capture the strategic port of Aqaba - that was his idea. He didn’t even inform his superiors. He enrolled the Arab tribesman in the project, rode across the desert and took it. And that was almost just the start!
There are two books I was reminded of when going through Seven Pillars of Wisdom and they are 'My War Gone By, I Miss It So' by Anthony Lloyd and 'The Lord of The Rings'.
The first because I think this book is surprisingly personal or intimate for a book written shortly after WWI. I was at times actually quite shocked and disturbed by Lawrence’s thoughts and feelings. Not so much that he had them, but that a national hero, who turned down a knighthood and a Victoria Cross not to mention two Croix De Guerres, writing shortly after World War One, would share such things with the general public.
It made me think of Lord Of The Rings not only because what Lawrence did in mostly just two short years is an absolutely epic tale, but because so much of it revolves around ancestor worshiping/respecting tribesmen with bizarre sounding names from bizarre sounding places. So a typical paragraph may be Lawrences meeting with Maahmoud, renowned desert warrior of the Abu-Orense, son of Ali, scourge of the Waddi-Odd, blood enemies of the Abu Tayi, and so on. Fortunately It’s all online and you can search the text to see where those particular names came up before and avoid your head spinning with confusion.
I’m no judge of prose but it seems almost poetic at times. According to Michael Korda, author of ‘Hero: The Life And Legend Of Lawrence Of Arabia’, Lawrence was a skilled writer and examination of his letters demonstrate he would very much alter his style depending on who he was writing to. Korda also describes Lawrence’s description in ‘Seven Pillars Of Wisdom’ of the attack on the train at Mudowwara as the very best of war writing. So much happens in just ten minutes and Lawrence’s style is perfect: the mine is detonated, the Turkish troops on the roofs machine gunned, some Turkish troops take shelter behind a bank and are hit with mortars, the train is looted, some Austrian officers and NCOs are taken prisoner, one of them pulls a pistol and they are massacred by the Arabs, Lawrence has time to reassure and old woman passenger and find her servant/slave, a badly wounded Arab, who Lawrence should have protected is left behind by mistake and Lawrence is distressed as he should have been killed as they cannot take him with them and the Turks will horribly kill the badly wounded, and so on. It makes me think of the helicopter attack scene in the film Apocalypse Now in that a lot happens in short space of time, much of it is horrible, some of it is incongruous and some of it weird, and you are on the edge of your seat trying to imagine what that must have been like. I found the battle scenes compelling. A.P. Wavell (later Field Marshall Wavell) wrote of Lawrence’s description of the battle of Talifah, that it was“one of the best descriptions of a battle ever penned”.
Aside from the battle scenes, many of the descriptions of the Arabs and their way of life are marvellous. It’s just a fantastic book, because its well written and fantastic story nearly every part of which could be independently verified - which is just astonishing. How many men have had such an adventure? Alexander the Great maybe? That’s the sort of League T.E. Lawrence ended up in.
July 3, 2023
🐪Epic
🐫 Now at last I’ve read it and have a book to recommend equal to The Iliad in Greek, War and Peace in Russian, All Quiet in German. The writing is amazing, the use of the English language exceptional. I savored every page as I listened to Ralph Lister’s narration. This, even though every war story must also be a story of pain, horror and loss.
🐫 Churchill puts it correctly and succinctly:
🐫 “It ranks with the greatest books ever written in the English language. As a narrative of war and adventure it is unsurpassable.”
🐫 Now at last I’ve read it and have a book to recommend equal to The Iliad in Greek, War and Peace in Russian, All Quiet in German. The writing is amazing, the use of the English language exceptional. I savored every page as I listened to Ralph Lister’s narration. This, even though every war story must also be a story of pain, horror and loss.
🐫 Churchill puts it correctly and succinctly:
🐫 “It ranks with the greatest books ever written in the English language. As a narrative of war and adventure it is unsurpassable.”
March 4, 2013
That was hard to read (one star for that!). Lawrence describes every hill, tree and shrub, gives the name of every man he has met and depicts his clothes, the meal they shared and the jokes that were told. On top of that military theory, philosophy, ethics, and theology. Heavy stuff. What you also get: a better understanding for today's near and middle east conflicts, insight into the Arab soul, and a glimpse into the soul of a very complicated man. Five stars for this.
February 7, 2020
'Seven Pillars of Wisdom' by Thomas Edward Lawrence is a memoir of observations about World War I by Lawrence who worked in Syria and Palestine - Arabia - from 1914 to 1918.
Lawrence is considered a hero by most, and in my opinion, deservedly so. Some critics think he inflated his part in some events; others believe subsequent publicity after the publication of his memoir (several versions were published) inflated his participation. None of this backseat whinging changes the fact being in a war is horrible, and Lawrence was definitely fighting in the Arab war against the Turkish Ottomans who were allies of the Germans.
Military men go without food and adequate shelter. They see and do appalling killings of men, women and children. They watch close friends as well as themselves endure terrible injuries without medical care for days. They live with days - months - of anxiety, not knowing when they will be in battle, or if they will survive the horrors of war, and not knowing how things will end in any campaign. They never know when they will be resupplied, or rescued if under attack or when they will be given new instructions to move somewhere unknown for reasons unknown by an unfamiliar officer with more rank. Lawrence experienced all of this. But he also had a lot of talent - in languages, in stamina, in willpower. From reading his book, he was self-directed, able to think for himself, and willing to take enormous risks with the lives of people for whom he was responsible. If he disagreed with a strategy, he organized opposition by going to disparate groups (hundreds of leaders of various Arab tribes, English/French/Indian commanders) who normally couldn't agree on anything and convinced them to work together for a different plan. He also often faked it until he made it - something he admits to frequently in his book. He made command decisions often without real authority other than what he pretended as an irregular British officer, and he admits to bonehead failures and surprising (sometimes to him) successes.
For us, gentle reader, the most important aspect of Lawrence's book is he was a damn good writer! However, the book, which is almost like a diary but with chapters and few dates, does not go into the Big Picture of the war in Arabia, so below I have copied from Wikipedia a timeline which clarifies the on-the-street coverage Lawrence does in his book:
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas; the Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering. By the summer of 1918, the Turks were offering a substantial reward for Lawrence's capture, initially £5,000 and eventually £20,000 (approx $2.1 million in 2017 dollars or £1.5 million). One officer wrote in his notes: "Though a price of £15,000 has been put on his head by the Turks, no Arab has, as yet, attempted to betray him. The Sharif of Mecca has given him the status of one of his sons, and he is just the finely tempered steel that supports the whole structure of our influence in Arabia. He is a very inspiring gentleman adventurer."
The fact Lawrence had a price out on his head is enough proof for me Lawrence did certainly play an important part in the war!
Lawrence had first explored Arabia, from Wikipedia:
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914.
Then, when World War I was declared:
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings,[40] but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
In 1915 there was a new idea being talked about by the various leadership of the main tribes of non-Turkish Arabs. Arab leaders wondered if they could unite the hundreds of various small related desert tribes into individual countries, like Europe. The idea became an operative hope because of the war. Lawrence actively explored and promoted Arab freedom in the Arabian Kings' and princes' courts he visited within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories. Frankly, the Arab tribes were not the kind of people who enjoyed joining in anything, so these leaders were struggling not only with the Ottoman Turks and European powers, but with their own people. Lawrence was often acting unofficially on his own as an ambassador between Arab tribes, Arab princes, and his British overlords, as well as officially. He wrote of having bad headaches from this job of mediation between competitive tribes that he often assumed on his own initiative. Omg, MY own head hurt from reading about the petty and dangerous squabbles Lawrence dealt with constantly between leaders. And then there were the knife fights between individuals from different tribes in the field! It reminded me of a schoolyard monitor trying to keep neighborhood teenage gang members from shooting each other over petty insults and old grudges.
One of Lawrence's biggest disappointments after the war was the betrayal of the Arabs by the European war powers. They reneged on their promises to the Arab Kings to support their bid for creating Arab nations free from colonialism. He had made friends among the Arabs, and he felt like he had been put into the unwilling position of a Judas goat.
Besides describing the war missions of blowing up train tracks, bridges and of attacking Turkish camps, Lawrence describes Arab customs and ways of life in his memoir. He spoke fluent Arabic, so he was able to suss out what the tribes thought of each other and the British outsiders from an insider's viewpoint. He did not hesitate to live as Arabs did, eat as they did, dress as they did. Considering the harsh deserts (and rural poverty) they lived in, it was important he learned their ways to survive the huge swing of temperatures from summer to winter, the lack of water and available foodstuffs, the lack of roads, airports, navigable rivers, etc. He really had to learn how to ride and care for camels. He became an expert! But he really really pushed himself and the people assigned to follow him or be his guides into terrible environments that even the Arabs found daunting. There were awful bugs, and going without bathing for weeks and no food and water for days!
Because of a strong willfulness of character, he often went on these dangerous journeys alone looking for Turk encampments and good places to blow up, making maps. From many poetic descriptions of the land in his memoir I think he loved being in those isolated but beautiful rocky and sandy places with only a riding and a supply camel, no matter that he could meet Turkish soldiers or unfriendly Arabs. Because of the cultural individualism of Arab mentality, an Arab or tribe could switch allegiances because of perceived insults, whim or bribes. Lawrence navigated through all of the difficulties despite being a British foreigner.
Lawrence's parents were not married, but he was the second of five sons. He was born in Wales, but the family moved from there to Scotland and later England. As a bastard, he probably could never have married into a 'good' family. However, many of his friends believed him asexual. From reading his memoir, I think he may have been homosexual, but he definitely was not very active sexually, if so. I agree with many who think he was a masochist. There are reports he hired men to whip him after the war. I think these stories are true. He underwent unthinkable deprivations and sufferings in wartime service to his country, and he chose to serve in one of the most inhospitable places for humans to survive - Arabia. There is a famous incident of sexual torture and possible rape when he was captured by Turks while on a reconnaissance mission. He notes in this book "how in Deraa that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost." In the chapters after this, Lawrence is noticeably less interested and very tired of the job he had been doing, mentioning more and more often he wanted to go home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._L...
"I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky in stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift."
-T. E. Lawrence
There are maps, appendixes of soldiers and their companies, tables of positions and movements, and indexes of places and people.
Lawrence is considered a hero by most, and in my opinion, deservedly so. Some critics think he inflated his part in some events; others believe subsequent publicity after the publication of his memoir (several versions were published) inflated his participation. None of this backseat whinging changes the fact being in a war is horrible, and Lawrence was definitely fighting in the Arab war against the Turkish Ottomans who were allies of the Germans.
Military men go without food and adequate shelter. They see and do appalling killings of men, women and children. They watch close friends as well as themselves endure terrible injuries without medical care for days. They live with days - months - of anxiety, not knowing when they will be in battle, or if they will survive the horrors of war, and not knowing how things will end in any campaign. They never know when they will be resupplied, or rescued if under attack or when they will be given new instructions to move somewhere unknown for reasons unknown by an unfamiliar officer with more rank. Lawrence experienced all of this. But he also had a lot of talent - in languages, in stamina, in willpower. From reading his book, he was self-directed, able to think for himself, and willing to take enormous risks with the lives of people for whom he was responsible. If he disagreed with a strategy, he organized opposition by going to disparate groups (hundreds of leaders of various Arab tribes, English/French/Indian commanders) who normally couldn't agree on anything and convinced them to work together for a different plan. He also often faked it until he made it - something he admits to frequently in his book. He made command decisions often without real authority other than what he pretended as an irregular British officer, and he admits to bonehead failures and surprising (sometimes to him) successes.
For us, gentle reader, the most important aspect of Lawrence's book is he was a damn good writer! However, the book, which is almost like a diary but with chapters and few dates, does not go into the Big Picture of the war in Arabia, so below I have copied from Wikipedia a timeline which clarifies the on-the-street coverage Lawrence does in his book:
Lawrence's most important contributions to the Arab Revolt were in the area of strategy and liaison with British armed forces, but he also participated personally in several military engagements:
3 January 1917: Attack on an Ottoman outpost in the Hejaz
26 March 1917: Attack on the railway at Aba el Naam
11 June 1917: Attack on a bridge at Ras Baalbek
2 July 1917: Defeat of the Ottoman forces at Aba el Lissan, an outpost of Aqaba
18 September 1917: Attack on the railway near Mudawara
27 September 1917: Attack on the railway, destroyed an engine
7 November 1917: Following a failed attack on the Yarmuk bridges, blew up a train on the railway between Dera'a and Amman, suffering several wounds in the explosion and ensuing combat
23 January 1918: The battle of Tafileh, a region southeast of the Dead Sea, with Arab regulars under the command of Jafar Pasha al-Askari; the battle was a defensive engagement that turned into an offensive rout and was described in the official history of the war as a "brilliant feat of arms". Lawrence was awarded the Distinguished Service Order for his leadership at Tafileh and was promoted to lieutenant colonel.
March 1918: Attack on the railway near Aqaba
19 April 1918: Attack using British armoured cars on Tell Shahm
16 September 1918: Destruction of railway bridge between Amman and Dera'a
26 September 1918: Attack on retreating Ottomans and Germans near the village of Tafas; the Ottoman forces massacred the villagers and then Arab forces in return massacred their prisoners with Lawrence's encouragement.
Lawrence made a 300-mile personal journey northward in June 1917, on the way to Aqaba, visiting Ras Baalbek, the outskirts of Damascus, and Azraq, Jordan. He met Arab nationalists, counselling them to avoid revolt until the arrival of Faisal's forces, and he attacked a bridge to create the impression of guerrilla activity. His findings were regarded by the British as extremely valuable and there was serious consideration of awarding him a Victoria Cross; in the end, he was invested as a Companion of the Order of the Bath and promoted to Major.
Lawrence travelled regularly between British headquarters and Faisal, co-ordinating military action. But by early 1918, Faisal's chief British liaison was Colonel Pierce Charles Joyce, and Lawrence's time was chiefly devoted to raiding and intelligence-gathering. By the summer of 1918, the Turks were offering a substantial reward for Lawrence's capture, initially £5,000 and eventually £20,000 (approx $2.1 million in 2017 dollars or £1.5 million). One officer wrote in his notes: "Though a price of £15,000 has been put on his head by the Turks, no Arab has, as yet, attempted to betray him. The Sharif of Mecca has given him the status of one of his sons, and he is just the finely tempered steel that supports the whole structure of our influence in Arabia. He is a very inspiring gentleman adventurer."
The fact Lawrence had a price out on his head is enough proof for me Lawrence did certainly play an important part in the war!
Lawrence had first explored Arabia, from Wikipedia:
In 1910, Lawrence was offered the opportunity to become a practising archaeologist at Carchemish, in the expedition that D. G. Hogarth was setting up on behalf of the British Museum. Hogarth arranged a "Senior Demyship" (a form of scholarship) for Lawrence at Magdalen College, Oxford to fund his work at £100 a year. He sailed for Beirut in December 1910 and went to Jbail (Byblos), where he studied Arabic. He then went to work on the excavations at Carchemish, near Jerablus in northern Syria, where he worked under Hogarth, R. Campbell Thompson of the British Museum, and Leonard Woolley until 1914.
Then, when World War I was declared:
In January 1914, Woolley and Lawrence were co-opted by the British military as an archaeological smokescreen for a British military survey of the Negev Desert. They were funded by the Palestine Exploration Fund to search for an area referred to in the Bible as the Wilderness of Zin, and they made an archaeological survey of the Negev Desert along the way. The Negev was strategically important, as an Ottoman army attacking Egypt would have to cross it. Woolley and Lawrence subsequently published a report of the expedition's archaeological findings,[40] but a more important result was updated mapping of the area, with special attention to features of military relevance such as water sources. Lawrence also visited Aqaba and Shobek, not far from Petra.
Following the outbreak of hostilities in August 1914, Lawrence did not immediately enlist in the British Army. He held back until October on the advice of S. F. Newcombe, when he was commissioned on the General List. Before the end of the year, he was summoned by renowned archaeologist and historian Lt. Cmdr. David Hogarth, his mentor at Carchemish, to the new Arab Bureau intelligence unit in Cairo, and he arrived in Cairo on 15 December 1914. The Bureau's chief was General Gilbert Clayton who reported to Egyptian High Commissioner Henry McMahon.
In 1915 there was a new idea being talked about by the various leadership of the main tribes of non-Turkish Arabs. Arab leaders wondered if they could unite the hundreds of various small related desert tribes into individual countries, like Europe. The idea became an operative hope because of the war. Lawrence actively explored and promoted Arab freedom in the Arabian Kings' and princes' courts he visited within the Arabic-speaking Ottoman territories. Frankly, the Arab tribes were not the kind of people who enjoyed joining in anything, so these leaders were struggling not only with the Ottoman Turks and European powers, but with their own people. Lawrence was often acting unofficially on his own as an ambassador between Arab tribes, Arab princes, and his British overlords, as well as officially. He wrote of having bad headaches from this job of mediation between competitive tribes that he often assumed on his own initiative. Omg, MY own head hurt from reading about the petty and dangerous squabbles Lawrence dealt with constantly between leaders. And then there were the knife fights between individuals from different tribes in the field! It reminded me of a schoolyard monitor trying to keep neighborhood teenage gang members from shooting each other over petty insults and old grudges.
One of Lawrence's biggest disappointments after the war was the betrayal of the Arabs by the European war powers. They reneged on their promises to the Arab Kings to support their bid for creating Arab nations free from colonialism. He had made friends among the Arabs, and he felt like he had been put into the unwilling position of a Judas goat.
Besides describing the war missions of blowing up train tracks, bridges and of attacking Turkish camps, Lawrence describes Arab customs and ways of life in his memoir. He spoke fluent Arabic, so he was able to suss out what the tribes thought of each other and the British outsiders from an insider's viewpoint. He did not hesitate to live as Arabs did, eat as they did, dress as they did. Considering the harsh deserts (and rural poverty) they lived in, it was important he learned their ways to survive the huge swing of temperatures from summer to winter, the lack of water and available foodstuffs, the lack of roads, airports, navigable rivers, etc. He really had to learn how to ride and care for camels. He became an expert! But he really really pushed himself and the people assigned to follow him or be his guides into terrible environments that even the Arabs found daunting. There were awful bugs, and going without bathing for weeks and no food and water for days!
Because of a strong willfulness of character, he often went on these dangerous journeys alone looking for Turk encampments and good places to blow up, making maps. From many poetic descriptions of the land in his memoir I think he loved being in those isolated but beautiful rocky and sandy places with only a riding and a supply camel, no matter that he could meet Turkish soldiers or unfriendly Arabs. Because of the cultural individualism of Arab mentality, an Arab or tribe could switch allegiances because of perceived insults, whim or bribes. Lawrence navigated through all of the difficulties despite being a British foreigner.
Lawrence's parents were not married, but he was the second of five sons. He was born in Wales, but the family moved from there to Scotland and later England. As a bastard, he probably could never have married into a 'good' family. However, many of his friends believed him asexual. From reading his memoir, I think he may have been homosexual, but he definitely was not very active sexually, if so. I agree with many who think he was a masochist. There are reports he hired men to whip him after the war. I think these stories are true. He underwent unthinkable deprivations and sufferings in wartime service to his country, and he chose to serve in one of the most inhospitable places for humans to survive - Arabia. There is a famous incident of sexual torture and possible rape when he was captured by Turks while on a reconnaissance mission. He notes in this book "how in Deraa that night the citadel of my integrity had been irrevocably lost." In the chapters after this, Lawrence is noticeably less interested and very tired of the job he had been doing, mentioning more and more often he wanted to go home.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/T._E._L...
"I loved you, so I drew these tides of
Men into my hands
And wrote my will across the
Sky in stars
To earn you freedom, the seven
Pillared worthy house,
That your eyes might be
Shining for me
When I came
Death seemed my servant on the
Road, 'til we were near
And saw you waiting:
When you smiled and in sorrowful
Envy he outran me
And took you apart:
Into his quietness
Love, the way-weary, groped to your body,
Our brief wage
Ours for the moment
Before Earth's soft hand explored your shape
And the blind
Worms grew fat upon
Your substance
Men prayed me that I set our work,
The inviolate house,
As a memory of you
But for fit monument I shattered it,
Unfinished: and now
The little things creep out to patch
Themselves hovels
In the marred shadow
Of your gift."
-T. E. Lawrence
There are maps, appendixes of soldiers and their companies, tables of positions and movements, and indexes of places and people.
April 27, 2013
It was an interesting account by Lawrence of his experiences organizing and advising the Arab revolt against the Turks during World War 1. Some of the details on the movements geographically of Lawrence's forces are hard to follow, and could have been better explained if maps showing the various place names had been throughout the text. Some of Lawrence's prose is a little hard to follow. However, if you are a history buff as I am, then you will enjoy this book.
Several people come off, I think, positively in Lawrence's account: Prince Faisal, the overall commander of the Arab forces; Field Marshal Allenby also comes off as an innovative, imaginative military leader who, unlike his predecessor, incorporated the Arab forces into his overall campaign strategy, one that presaged the German Wehrmacht's blitzkrieg tactics of blending air, artillery, and mobile armored forces to break the enemy.
In addition, I was moved by an account of Lawrence when one of his irregular Arab guerilla leaders, Tallal, finds his home village massacred by the Turks during their retreat from Allenby's forces. Tallal, disobeying orders, splits off from his comrades, draws his sword, and single-handedly charges into a force of several thousand Turkish soldiers -- maddened by his grief and anger -- dying in the effort. Whereupon, the entire Arab force, formerly remaining covert, rises and wipes out the Turks en masses --- no quarter given, none taken. I believe a version of this scene is shown in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia."
Several people come off, I think, positively in Lawrence's account: Prince Faisal, the overall commander of the Arab forces; Field Marshal Allenby also comes off as an innovative, imaginative military leader who, unlike his predecessor, incorporated the Arab forces into his overall campaign strategy, one that presaged the German Wehrmacht's blitzkrieg tactics of blending air, artillery, and mobile armored forces to break the enemy.
In addition, I was moved by an account of Lawrence when one of his irregular Arab guerilla leaders, Tallal, finds his home village massacred by the Turks during their retreat from Allenby's forces. Tallal, disobeying orders, splits off from his comrades, draws his sword, and single-handedly charges into a force of several thousand Turkish soldiers -- maddened by his grief and anger -- dying in the effort. Whereupon, the entire Arab force, formerly remaining covert, rises and wipes out the Turks en masses --- no quarter given, none taken. I believe a version of this scene is shown in the movie "Lawrence of Arabia."
June 1, 2013
I selected this book to read as part of the research I was doing on my novel. I had seen the film "Lawrence of Arabia" in the past and now wanted to mine the book for details I needed to know about life among the Bedouin in 1920. I had planned to only read the parts I needed for my novel, but ended up devouring the whole thing. Then I read it again, parsing out what had now become an intense interest in TE's psychology. I then retreated to a biography and selected John Mack's "A Prince of our Disorder", not only because it won a Pulitzer, but because it was a psychological biography rather than the more materialistic ones that focused on TE's war efforts. (I do not care how Lawrence learned to blow up a train). As Lawrence's personality was dissected in that fabulous biography, I could not help but draw on a curious aspect of human-ness. There is a correlation between being deeply psychologically disturbed and fantastic achievements in some of history's greatest artists. Van Gogh, is the first who comes to mind, but Beethoven and Mozart and Wagner all had personality problems (I am being polite here), Degas, Cezanne, Gauguin: not particularly well-balanced. There are any number of examples, too many to discuss here. The opposite is true as well, as other men who are infamous rather than famous, and their achievements might be better categorized as harmful to humanity rather than having enriched it (these men tend to enter politics rather than the arts). But the point I am making is that in order to step out of the ordinary, the mold has to be broken, and cracking that mold often corresponds to a cracking the psyche. Reading Seven Pillars again after reading Mack's biography underlined the most poignant parts of the book, and watching the film again after being immersed in the two books brought out the fierce intent of the filmmakers to illustrate in sound and color what Lawrence meant to other people and to history, but not what that medium could convey to us what was churning in Lawrence's soul. They tried, they tried, and Peter O'Toole does a fantastic job looking like a tormented soul, his eyes at times full of humor and then pathos and then fear. But the screenplay cannot put the words in our ears that we need to hear in order to understand Lawrence. Only his own words can do that, and they are heartbreaking.
April 29, 2023
There is a full review under a different edition same name 🐪
October 5, 2020
Grandioso como as dunas do deserto.
January 2, 2015
ZEVEN ZUILEN VAN WIJSHEID OF DE TRIOMF VAN EEN BLONDE ARABIER
Een paar jaar terug verscheen Zeven zuilen van wijsheid (voor het eerst gepubliceerd in 1922 als Seven Pillars of Wisdom: a Triumph), de eerste Nederlandse vertaling van het monumentale boek van T.E. Lawrence, beter bekend als "Lawrence of Arabia", de held van de gelijknamige film van David Lean met een magistrale Peter O'Toole in de hoofdrol. Lawrence' passionele relaas van zijn belevenissen tijdens de Arabische Opstand van 1916 tot 1918, is in de Angelsaksische wereld tot op heden het meest verkochte boek over de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Zo was het een persoonlijke favoriet van grootheden als Winston Churchill, E.M. Forster en John F. Kennedy. Tegelijkertijd is Zeven zuilen van wijsheid brandend actueel. Wie deze cultklassieker vandaag leest, zal de problematiek in het Midden-Oosten vanuit een andere invalshoek bekijken. De oorlog in Irak en het streven naar onafhankelijkheid van de Palestijnen vinden namelijk hun oorsprong in de periode die Lawrence zo uitvoerig beschrijft. De inkijk die Lawrence zijn lezers geeft in de diplomatieke gebruiken en politieke opvattingen van de toenmalige Arabische volkeren is vaak zeer verhelderend en transponeerbaar op de huidige problematiek.
De Brit Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935) had nauwelijks militaire ervaring toen hij in 1916 als verbindingsofficier naar de Hedjaz, een onafhankelijk koninkrijk van 1916 tot 1924 in het westen van het huidige Saoedie-Arabië, werd gezonden. Lawrence, die Arabisch sprak en zijn hart verloren had aan de volkeren van het Midden-Oosten, was op vele vlakken de ideale link tussen de Britse regering en de vertegenwoordigers van de Arabische Opstand tegen het Ottomaanse rijk. Zijn taak om een leider onder de Arabische opstandelingen te zoeken en een alliantie aan te gaan met de Britten, omschrijft hij zelf als volgt: "Ik stelde me ten doel een nieuwe natie te vormen, een verdwenen invloed te herstellen, om twintig miljoen semieten de grondslagen te geven waarop ze uit hun nationaal gedachtegoed een geïnspireerd droompaleis konden optrekken" (p.29).
Hoe was de politieke situatie op het moment van Lawrence' indiensttreding ? Tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog was het door de eeuwen heen verzwakte Ottomaanse Rijk nog steeds uitgestrekt en schaarde zich aan Duitse zijde. Het bevond zich tussen de Russen in het Noorden en Britten in het Oosten en Westen in. Na de beruchte nederlaag van de Dardanellen ― de Britse poging om de oostelijke grenzen van het rijk te doorbreken ― was alle hoop gevestigd op het Zuiden, te weten Arabië en omstreken, met zijn tientallen nomadische volksstammen. In die tijd ontstond er een nationalisme dat als belangrijkste doel had de Turken terug te drijven en een verenigd Arabisch koninkrijk op te richten. De Arabische Opstand was een guerilla-oorlog onder leiding van Abdullah en Feisal, de zonen van sharif Hussein, een gerespecteerde vorst die als directe afstammeling gold van de profeet Mohammed en de opzichter was van de twee heilige plaatsen Mekka en Medina. Hussein ging in 1915 een alliantie aan met de Britten, om de Turken uit de Hedjaz te verdrijven, noordwaarts op te rukken en zo Egypte en Palestina van het Ottomaanse juk te bevrijden. De Britten zouden Hussein belonen door van dit hele bevrijde gebied één groot verenigd Arabisch koninkrijk te maken, met Hussein op de troon en Damascus als hoofdstad. Maar die beloftes werden nooit ingelost. Dit is meteen het grote dilemma dat doorheen Lawrence' boek waart: "Het kabinet bracht de Arabieren op de been om voor ons te vechten met de ondubbelzinnige belofte van naoorlogs zelfbestuur (…) Het was van meet af aan duidelijk dat als wij de oorlog wonnen deze belofte een dode letter zou zijn, en als ik een eerlijk adviseur van de Arabieren was geweest, zou ik ze hebben aangeraden naar huis te gaan en niet in de strijd voor zoiets hun leven te wagen (…) wel is duidelijk dat mij geen schijn van recht toekwam om de Arabieren buiten hun medeweten in zo’n gok te betrekken (…) en dat we beter konden zegevieren en ons woord breken dan verliezen." (p.30-31). Lawrence speelde dus een dubbelrol: van aan de start van zijn grote avontuur hield hij zijn Arabische kameraden moedwillig een leugen voor, maar toch probeerde hij tot het einde toe de Britse en Arabische belangen te verzoenen, gedreven door zijn onvoorwaardelijke liefde voor de Arabische cultuur. Die verscheurende gewetenskwestie is de rode draad doorheen Zeven zuilen van wijsheid en maakt er een onverbloemd spijtschrift van. Het heeft soms wat weg van schrijven als therapie, en na de zoveelste evocatie van schuldbesef en puriteins zelfonderzoek, moet je als lezer vaker dan gewenst even doorbijten. Deze vertwijfeling maakt van Lawrence' pleidooi voor de Arabische onafhankelijkheid een halfslachtige bedoening, want wat moet je als lezer die weet wat hij weet nog geloven van de vele, vaak prachtig beschreven loftuitingen op de Arabische wereld en zijn gewoontes ?
De grote troef van dit boek is ongetwijfeld de grote spanwijdte, het literaire bereik. Zeven zuilen van wijsheid is meer dan een avonturenroman en meer dan een zoveelste boek in de traditie van de negentiende-eeuwse Angelsaksische woestijnliteratuur, met als belangrijkste vertegenwoordigers Charles Doughty, Richard Burton, Wilfrid Blunt en Benjamin Disraeli. Lawrence getuigt breedvoerig – soms zelfs té - van zijn zeer uitgebreide kennis van de fauna en de flora, de geografie, de stammen en de gewoonten van de woestijn, maar wat vanaf de eerste bladzijden meteen opvalt is dat Lawrence een geboren verteller én een groot stilist is, die de aandacht van zijn lezers weet te grijpen en vast te houden. Het is een boek dat je niet makkelijk naast je neerlegt. Zijn beschrijvingen van de woestijnlandschappen zijn bijzonder meeslepend en getuigen stuk voor stuk van zijn passievolle liefde voor de woestijn en zijn bewoners. De literaire kracht waarmee hij de verschillende aanslagen uiteenzet, de zeer tot de verbeelding sprekende en plastische schetsen van de diverse stamhoofden die hij interpelleert, of de kennis die hij tentoonspreidt over de gebruiken van de verschillende volkeren, maken de lectuur van dit boek tot een uitzonderlijke ervaring.
Lawrence wilde oorspronkelijk schrijven over de zeven grote steden in het Midden-Oosten (Cairo, Smyrna, Constantinopel, Beiroet, Aleppo, Damascus en Mekka), maar besloot uiteindelijk een autobiografisch verslag te maken van zijn oorlogsherinneringen. Dat Lawrence aanvankelijk een fictiewerk wilde schrijven, verklaart indirect misschien ook waarom hij zo vaak een loopje met de waarheid neemt. Maar de voornaamste reden voor de vele historische onjuistheden is ongetwijfeld dat hij het oorspronkelijke manuscript, inclusief zijn aantekeningen, kwijt speelde en een tweede en zelfs derde versie uit het hoofd probeerde te reconstrueren. Sinds het ter beschikking komen van de relevante archieven is het bewezen dat Lawrence niet altijd de waarheid heeft geschreven of juist heeft verzwegen, en dat we zijn bijdrage aan de hele opstand, en bij uitbreiding zijn hele kroniek met een grote emmer zout moeten nemen. Lawrence is trouwens de eerste om de historische twijfelachtigheid van zijn verslag op de korrel te nemen: "Ik streed mijn eigen strijd, op mijn eigen stort. Zie het (i.e. Zeven zuilen van wijsheid, nvdr.) als een persoonlijke, uit het hoofd in elkaar gedraaide geschiedenis" (p.7). Het is meteen een van de grote verwijten die het boek te verduren heeft gekregen: het megalomane ophemelen van zijn bijdrage, het aandikken van de eigen leiderschapsrol, etc... We mogen echter niet uit het oog verliezen dat Lawrence al bij leven een legende was. Een legende die Lawrence zelf in de hand werkte, naar eigen zeggen om de Arabische zaak vooruit te helpen. Lawrence had zich bewust laten hypen door de Amerikaanse oorlogscorrespondent Lowell Thomas, voor wiens camera hij uitgebreid poseerde. De filmvoorstellingen die Thomas achteraf in Londen organiseerde waren bijzonder populaire spektakels, compleet met buikdanseressen en wierook. De mythe van de blonde, blauwogige Arabier was geboren.
Wie het boek leest als een historisch verslag komt dus bedrogen uit; wie het leest als een literaire interpretatie van een zeer bewogen periode zal op vele vlakken beloond worden. Vertaler Commandeur verdient dan ook alle lof voor de manier waarop hij Lawrence' nu eens bombastische en verheven, dan weer zakelijk en ingetogen taalgebruik, heeft weten over te zetten naar een Nederlands dat het midden houdt tussen de toon van een historisch verslag en een grootse avonturenroman. Jammer dat het volledig overbodige en veel te dweperige nawoord van Guus Kuijer een smet werpt op een voor de rest onberispelijke uitgave van een wereldberoemde klassieker, die eindelijk ook zijn intrede maakt in het Nederlandse taalgebied. De ietwat onbescheiden ondertitel van Lawrence' boek is 'een triomf' en hoe je het ook draait of keert, dat is het boek zeer zeker, in meer dan één opzicht.
- Laurent De Maertelaer
Zeven zuilen van wijsheid - T.E. Lawrence - vertaald en toegelicht door Sjaak Commandeur, met een nawoord door Guus Kuijer; ISBN: 9789025366940; Uitgever: Athenaeum-Polak & Van Gennep; Gebonden, 821 pagina's; Prijs: €44,95
Een paar jaar terug verscheen Zeven zuilen van wijsheid (voor het eerst gepubliceerd in 1922 als Seven Pillars of Wisdom: a Triumph), de eerste Nederlandse vertaling van het monumentale boek van T.E. Lawrence, beter bekend als "Lawrence of Arabia", de held van de gelijknamige film van David Lean met een magistrale Peter O'Toole in de hoofdrol. Lawrence' passionele relaas van zijn belevenissen tijdens de Arabische Opstand van 1916 tot 1918, is in de Angelsaksische wereld tot op heden het meest verkochte boek over de Eerste Wereldoorlog. Zo was het een persoonlijke favoriet van grootheden als Winston Churchill, E.M. Forster en John F. Kennedy. Tegelijkertijd is Zeven zuilen van wijsheid brandend actueel. Wie deze cultklassieker vandaag leest, zal de problematiek in het Midden-Oosten vanuit een andere invalshoek bekijken. De oorlog in Irak en het streven naar onafhankelijkheid van de Palestijnen vinden namelijk hun oorsprong in de periode die Lawrence zo uitvoerig beschrijft. De inkijk die Lawrence zijn lezers geeft in de diplomatieke gebruiken en politieke opvattingen van de toenmalige Arabische volkeren is vaak zeer verhelderend en transponeerbaar op de huidige problematiek.
De Brit Thomas Edward Lawrence (1888-1935) had nauwelijks militaire ervaring toen hij in 1916 als verbindingsofficier naar de Hedjaz, een onafhankelijk koninkrijk van 1916 tot 1924 in het westen van het huidige Saoedie-Arabië, werd gezonden. Lawrence, die Arabisch sprak en zijn hart verloren had aan de volkeren van het Midden-Oosten, was op vele vlakken de ideale link tussen de Britse regering en de vertegenwoordigers van de Arabische Opstand tegen het Ottomaanse rijk. Zijn taak om een leider onder de Arabische opstandelingen te zoeken en een alliantie aan te gaan met de Britten, omschrijft hij zelf als volgt: "Ik stelde me ten doel een nieuwe natie te vormen, een verdwenen invloed te herstellen, om twintig miljoen semieten de grondslagen te geven waarop ze uit hun nationaal gedachtegoed een geïnspireerd droompaleis konden optrekken" (p.29).
Hoe was de politieke situatie op het moment van Lawrence' indiensttreding ? Tijdens de Eerste Wereldoorlog was het door de eeuwen heen verzwakte Ottomaanse Rijk nog steeds uitgestrekt en schaarde zich aan Duitse zijde. Het bevond zich tussen de Russen in het Noorden en Britten in het Oosten en Westen in. Na de beruchte nederlaag van de Dardanellen ― de Britse poging om de oostelijke grenzen van het rijk te doorbreken ― was alle hoop gevestigd op het Zuiden, te weten Arabië en omstreken, met zijn tientallen nomadische volksstammen. In die tijd ontstond er een nationalisme dat als belangrijkste doel had de Turken terug te drijven en een verenigd Arabisch koninkrijk op te richten. De Arabische Opstand was een guerilla-oorlog onder leiding van Abdullah en Feisal, de zonen van sharif Hussein, een gerespecteerde vorst die als directe afstammeling gold van de profeet Mohammed en de opzichter was van de twee heilige plaatsen Mekka en Medina. Hussein ging in 1915 een alliantie aan met de Britten, om de Turken uit de Hedjaz te verdrijven, noordwaarts op te rukken en zo Egypte en Palestina van het Ottomaanse juk te bevrijden. De Britten zouden Hussein belonen door van dit hele bevrijde gebied één groot verenigd Arabisch koninkrijk te maken, met Hussein op de troon en Damascus als hoofdstad. Maar die beloftes werden nooit ingelost. Dit is meteen het grote dilemma dat doorheen Lawrence' boek waart: "Het kabinet bracht de Arabieren op de been om voor ons te vechten met de ondubbelzinnige belofte van naoorlogs zelfbestuur (…) Het was van meet af aan duidelijk dat als wij de oorlog wonnen deze belofte een dode letter zou zijn, en als ik een eerlijk adviseur van de Arabieren was geweest, zou ik ze hebben aangeraden naar huis te gaan en niet in de strijd voor zoiets hun leven te wagen (…) wel is duidelijk dat mij geen schijn van recht toekwam om de Arabieren buiten hun medeweten in zo’n gok te betrekken (…) en dat we beter konden zegevieren en ons woord breken dan verliezen." (p.30-31). Lawrence speelde dus een dubbelrol: van aan de start van zijn grote avontuur hield hij zijn Arabische kameraden moedwillig een leugen voor, maar toch probeerde hij tot het einde toe de Britse en Arabische belangen te verzoenen, gedreven door zijn onvoorwaardelijke liefde voor de Arabische cultuur. Die verscheurende gewetenskwestie is de rode draad doorheen Zeven zuilen van wijsheid en maakt er een onverbloemd spijtschrift van. Het heeft soms wat weg van schrijven als therapie, en na de zoveelste evocatie van schuldbesef en puriteins zelfonderzoek, moet je als lezer vaker dan gewenst even doorbijten. Deze vertwijfeling maakt van Lawrence' pleidooi voor de Arabische onafhankelijkheid een halfslachtige bedoening, want wat moet je als lezer die weet wat hij weet nog geloven van de vele, vaak prachtig beschreven loftuitingen op de Arabische wereld en zijn gewoontes ?
De grote troef van dit boek is ongetwijfeld de grote spanwijdte, het literaire bereik. Zeven zuilen van wijsheid is meer dan een avonturenroman en meer dan een zoveelste boek in de traditie van de negentiende-eeuwse Angelsaksische woestijnliteratuur, met als belangrijkste vertegenwoordigers Charles Doughty, Richard Burton, Wilfrid Blunt en Benjamin Disraeli. Lawrence getuigt breedvoerig – soms zelfs té - van zijn zeer uitgebreide kennis van de fauna en de flora, de geografie, de stammen en de gewoonten van de woestijn, maar wat vanaf de eerste bladzijden meteen opvalt is dat Lawrence een geboren verteller én een groot stilist is, die de aandacht van zijn lezers weet te grijpen en vast te houden. Het is een boek dat je niet makkelijk naast je neerlegt. Zijn beschrijvingen van de woestijnlandschappen zijn bijzonder meeslepend en getuigen stuk voor stuk van zijn passievolle liefde voor de woestijn en zijn bewoners. De literaire kracht waarmee hij de verschillende aanslagen uiteenzet, de zeer tot de verbeelding sprekende en plastische schetsen van de diverse stamhoofden die hij interpelleert, of de kennis die hij tentoonspreidt over de gebruiken van de verschillende volkeren, maken de lectuur van dit boek tot een uitzonderlijke ervaring.
Lawrence wilde oorspronkelijk schrijven over de zeven grote steden in het Midden-Oosten (Cairo, Smyrna, Constantinopel, Beiroet, Aleppo, Damascus en Mekka), maar besloot uiteindelijk een autobiografisch verslag te maken van zijn oorlogsherinneringen. Dat Lawrence aanvankelijk een fictiewerk wilde schrijven, verklaart indirect misschien ook waarom hij zo vaak een loopje met de waarheid neemt. Maar de voornaamste reden voor de vele historische onjuistheden is ongetwijfeld dat hij het oorspronkelijke manuscript, inclusief zijn aantekeningen, kwijt speelde en een tweede en zelfs derde versie uit het hoofd probeerde te reconstrueren. Sinds het ter beschikking komen van de relevante archieven is het bewezen dat Lawrence niet altijd de waarheid heeft geschreven of juist heeft verzwegen, en dat we zijn bijdrage aan de hele opstand, en bij uitbreiding zijn hele kroniek met een grote emmer zout moeten nemen. Lawrence is trouwens de eerste om de historische twijfelachtigheid van zijn verslag op de korrel te nemen: "Ik streed mijn eigen strijd, op mijn eigen stort. Zie het (i.e. Zeven zuilen van wijsheid, nvdr.) als een persoonlijke, uit het hoofd in elkaar gedraaide geschiedenis" (p.7). Het is meteen een van de grote verwijten die het boek te verduren heeft gekregen: het megalomane ophemelen van zijn bijdrage, het aandikken van de eigen leiderschapsrol, etc... We mogen echter niet uit het oog verliezen dat Lawrence al bij leven een legende was. Een legende die Lawrence zelf in de hand werkte, naar eigen zeggen om de Arabische zaak vooruit te helpen. Lawrence had zich bewust laten hypen door de Amerikaanse oorlogscorrespondent Lowell Thomas, voor wiens camera hij uitgebreid poseerde. De filmvoorstellingen die Thomas achteraf in Londen organiseerde waren bijzonder populaire spektakels, compleet met buikdanseressen en wierook. De mythe van de blonde, blauwogige Arabier was geboren.
Wie het boek leest als een historisch verslag komt dus bedrogen uit; wie het leest als een literaire interpretatie van een zeer bewogen periode zal op vele vlakken beloond worden. Vertaler Commandeur verdient dan ook alle lof voor de manier waarop hij Lawrence' nu eens bombastische en verheven, dan weer zakelijk en ingetogen taalgebruik, heeft weten over te zetten naar een Nederlands dat het midden houdt tussen de toon van een historisch verslag en een grootse avonturenroman. Jammer dat het volledig overbodige en veel te dweperige nawoord van Guus Kuijer een smet werpt op een voor de rest onberispelijke uitgave van een wereldberoemde klassieker, die eindelijk ook zijn intrede maakt in het Nederlandse taalgebied. De ietwat onbescheiden ondertitel van Lawrence' boek is 'een triomf' en hoe je het ook draait of keert, dat is het boek zeer zeker, in meer dan één opzicht.
- Laurent De Maertelaer
Zeven zuilen van wijsheid - T.E. Lawrence - vertaald en toegelicht door Sjaak Commandeur, met een nawoord door Guus Kuijer; ISBN: 9789025366940; Uitgever: Athenaeum-Polak & Van Gennep; Gebonden, 821 pagina's; Prijs: €44,95
July 16, 2017
“Wisdom has built her house; she has set up its seven pillars.” (Proverbs 9:1)
This eyewitness report of the Arab revolt against Turkish rule during World War One is exhaustive in scope and detail. Lawrence fills six hundred plus pages with details of who, what, where, why and even the weather. Much of it will only interest academics and students of war and rebellion. But hidden in all that dry, sandy strata are nuggets of wisdom about politics, war and irregular warfare in the middle east—some of it relevant today.
“They were weak in natural resources … otherwise we should have had to pause evoking in the strategic center of the Middle East new national movements of such abounding vigor.”
This is Lawrence’s second draft. The first and many of his notes were lost. I can’t imagine what was left out. At every turn, Lawrence lists the principle players (and often names their camels), the name of the topography, the weather conditions, the water quality at this waterhole (vital in the desert), and comments on the quality of shade and local vermin. Did I mention it was exhaustive?
“In mass they were not formidable. The smaller unit the better its performance.”
Lawrence’s style is archaic. Some sentences required several readings to glean the meaning. He extends “thanks to Mr. and Mrs. [George] Bernard Shaw for countless suggestions of great value and diversity: and all the present semicolons.” There are lots of semicolons. I recorded over seventy quotes for extra attention. A few frame this review, unfortunately out of context.
“The Wahabis [sic], followers of a fanatical Moslem heresy, had imposed the strict rules [of the desert] on easy and civilized [town folks]. Everything forcibly pious or forcibly puritanical.”
No one escapes Lawrence’s magnifying glass, including himself. Some characters fare better than others. He is honest, but not necessarily politically correct. He indulges in the racial, class and national stereotypes common to an educated Englishman of that day, but he is frank in his admiration for those who suffered most: the common soldiers.
“We should use the smallest force in the quickest time at the farthest place.”
His analysis of the development of irregular warfare echoes in the tactics used worldwide today. The text suffers from many uncorrected OCR transcription errors. Added to Lawrence’s penchant for details, the reader often finds himself adrift in a trackless desert.
“I know the British do not want [Arabia], yet what can I say, when they took the Sudan, not wanting it? Perhaps one day will seem to them as precious.” Feisal bin Hussein
This eyewitness report of the Arab revolt against Turkish rule during World War One is exhaustive in scope and detail. Lawrence fills six hundred plus pages with details of who, what, where, why and even the weather. Much of it will only interest academics and students of war and rebellion. But hidden in all that dry, sandy strata are nuggets of wisdom about politics, war and irregular warfare in the middle east—some of it relevant today.
“They were weak in natural resources … otherwise we should have had to pause evoking in the strategic center of the Middle East new national movements of such abounding vigor.”
This is Lawrence’s second draft. The first and many of his notes were lost. I can’t imagine what was left out. At every turn, Lawrence lists the principle players (and often names their camels), the name of the topography, the weather conditions, the water quality at this waterhole (vital in the desert), and comments on the quality of shade and local vermin. Did I mention it was exhaustive?
“In mass they were not formidable. The smaller unit the better its performance.”
Lawrence’s style is archaic. Some sentences required several readings to glean the meaning. He extends “thanks to Mr. and Mrs. [George] Bernard Shaw for countless suggestions of great value and diversity: and all the present semicolons.” There are lots of semicolons. I recorded over seventy quotes for extra attention. A few frame this review, unfortunately out of context.
“The Wahabis [sic], followers of a fanatical Moslem heresy, had imposed the strict rules [of the desert] on easy and civilized [town folks]. Everything forcibly pious or forcibly puritanical.”
No one escapes Lawrence’s magnifying glass, including himself. Some characters fare better than others. He is honest, but not necessarily politically correct. He indulges in the racial, class and national stereotypes common to an educated Englishman of that day, but he is frank in his admiration for those who suffered most: the common soldiers.
“We should use the smallest force in the quickest time at the farthest place.”
His analysis of the development of irregular warfare echoes in the tactics used worldwide today. The text suffers from many uncorrected OCR transcription errors. Added to Lawrence’s penchant for details, the reader often finds himself adrift in a trackless desert.
“I know the British do not want [Arabia], yet what can I say, when they took the Sudan, not wanting it? Perhaps one day will seem to them as precious.” Feisal bin Hussein
August 15, 2020
From a review I wrote of a different book....
At the end of November 1918, a dark, handsome young man who claimed, with some justification, to speak for the Arabs boarded a British warship in Beirut bound for Marseille and the Paris Peace Conference. Feisal, descendant of the Prophet and member of the ancient Hashemite clan, was clever, determined and very ambitious. He was also dazzling. he was everyone’s image of what a noble desert Arab should be.
“He suggested the calmness and peace of the desert, the meditation of one who lives in the wide spaces of the earth, the solemnity of thought of one who often communes alone with nature.”
Feisal had declared himself king of the Arabs. Riding at Feisal’s side was his fair-haired, blue-eyed British liaison officer, later to become even more famous as Lawrence of Arabia.
A distinguished scholar and a man of action, a soldier and a writer, a passionate lover of both the Arabs and the British empire, T. E. Lawrence was, in Lloyd George’s words, “a most elusive and unassessable personality.” He remains a puzzle, surrounded by legend, some based in reality, some created by himself. It is true that he did brilliantly at Oxford, that he could have been a great archaeologist and that he was extraordinarily brave.
It is not true that he created the Arab revolt by himself. His great account, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, is part history, part myth, as he himself admitted. He claimed that he passed easily as an Arab, but Arabs found his spoken Arabic full of mistakes. He shuddered when the American journalist Lowell Thomas made him famous, but he came several times in secret to the Albert Hall to hear his lectures. “He had,” said Thomas, “a genius for backing into the limelight.”
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
At the end of November 1918, a dark, handsome young man who claimed, with some justification, to speak for the Arabs boarded a British warship in Beirut bound for Marseille and the Paris Peace Conference. Feisal, descendant of the Prophet and member of the ancient Hashemite clan, was clever, determined and very ambitious. He was also dazzling. he was everyone’s image of what a noble desert Arab should be.
“He suggested the calmness and peace of the desert, the meditation of one who lives in the wide spaces of the earth, the solemnity of thought of one who often communes alone with nature.”
Feisal had declared himself king of the Arabs. Riding at Feisal’s side was his fair-haired, blue-eyed British liaison officer, later to become even more famous as Lawrence of Arabia.
A distinguished scholar and a man of action, a soldier and a writer, a passionate lover of both the Arabs and the British empire, T. E. Lawrence was, in Lloyd George’s words, “a most elusive and unassessable personality.” He remains a puzzle, surrounded by legend, some based in reality, some created by himself. It is true that he did brilliantly at Oxford, that he could have been a great archaeologist and that he was extraordinarily brave.
It is not true that he created the Arab revolt by himself. His great account, The Seven Pillars of Wisdom, is part history, part myth, as he himself admitted. He claimed that he passed easily as an Arab, but Arabs found his spoken Arabic full of mistakes. He shuddered when the American journalist Lowell Thomas made him famous, but he came several times in secret to the Albert Hall to hear his lectures. “He had,” said Thomas, “a genius for backing into the limelight.”
https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
July 27, 2007
This is an amazing account of Lawrence's experiences in Arabia during WWI, and one of my favorite books of all time. His vivid and tireless description of the Arabs, the war and the desert combined with an intimate view into his moral struggles provides an unparalled kathartic read. His exhausting description can seem to get monotonous at times but whether intentional or not this style "works" for writing about the desert. It is not a "quick" read, but dreamy and wondering, and laden with fascinating portraits of those who shaped the modern face of the Middle East. Simply put, the man was as brilliant as he was tragic.
Interestingly enough Prince Feisal whom accompanies Lawrence in leading the Arab campaign against the Turks becomes the King of what would later become Iraq... This was how it all started, and a glimpse into what it was supposed to be about.
Interestingly enough Prince Feisal whom accompanies Lawrence in leading the Arab campaign against the Turks becomes the King of what would later become Iraq... This was how it all started, and a glimpse into what it was supposed to be about.
August 17, 2020
Que grande aventura. Um livro fantástico. Compreensão exaustiva do mundo árabe ocidental, nas duas primeiras décadas do século XX, com as suas tribos, costumes e o anseio pela liberdade. Depois há as magníficas descrições do deserto, as deslocações lentas a camelo, as batalhas. Um épico.
“Eu estava todo vestido de árabe. (...) Fomos subindo tranquilamente pela longa rua que levava aos edifícios do Governo, na margem do Barada. O caminho estava apinhado de gente, nos passeios, no meio da rua, nas janelas e nas varandas, ou em cima dos telhados. Muitos choravam, alguns aclamavam debilmente, alguns, mais ousados, gritavam os nossos nomes; mas a maior parte limitava-se a olhar, com a alegria a brilhar nos olhos. Um movimento semelhante a um longo suspiro, desde o portão ao centro da cidade [Damasco], marcou a nossa chegada. (...)
Sonhara, na City School de Oxford, em dar forma à nova Ásia, que o tempo estava inexoravelmente a trazer-nos. Meca deveria levar a Damasco, Damasco a Anatólia, e posteriormente a Bagdad; e depois havia o Iémen. Tudo isto poderá parecer fantasia àqueles que são capazes de chamar ao meu começo um esforço vulgar.”
“Todos os homens sonham, mas não da mesma maneira. Os que sonham de noite nos recantos poeirentos das suas mentes acordam, de dia, para descobrir que era tudo em vão; mas os que sonham de dia são homens perigosos, pois podem realizar os seus sonhos de olhos abertos, para os tornar possíveis.”
“Eu estava todo vestido de árabe. (...) Fomos subindo tranquilamente pela longa rua que levava aos edifícios do Governo, na margem do Barada. O caminho estava apinhado de gente, nos passeios, no meio da rua, nas janelas e nas varandas, ou em cima dos telhados. Muitos choravam, alguns aclamavam debilmente, alguns, mais ousados, gritavam os nossos nomes; mas a maior parte limitava-se a olhar, com a alegria a brilhar nos olhos. Um movimento semelhante a um longo suspiro, desde o portão ao centro da cidade [Damasco], marcou a nossa chegada. (...)
Sonhara, na City School de Oxford, em dar forma à nova Ásia, que o tempo estava inexoravelmente a trazer-nos. Meca deveria levar a Damasco, Damasco a Anatólia, e posteriormente a Bagdad; e depois havia o Iémen. Tudo isto poderá parecer fantasia àqueles que são capazes de chamar ao meu começo um esforço vulgar.”
“Todos os homens sonham, mas não da mesma maneira. Os que sonham de noite nos recantos poeirentos das suas mentes acordam, de dia, para descobrir que era tudo em vão; mas os que sonham de dia são homens perigosos, pois podem realizar os seus sonhos de olhos abertos, para os tornar possíveis.”
October 5, 2014
We all know about the film even if we have not seen it, or at least seen the end of it. But this is the story written bythe man himself. It tells the story of one of the forgotton parts of the First world War. Less famous than the Somme, Gallipoli and Jutland this is the story of an assault on the underbelly of the Ottoman Empire, how a British Army Officer united a rag tag group of nomadic Arabs and formed a fighting unit. It is fairly low on action scenes but does describe effective use of explosives and sabbotage. It is much more focussed on the mindset of T.E Lawrence and his understanding of Arab culture and customs. He was a rebel, a maverik but he could organise lead and get results. This book is even more relevant today than when I read it over a decade ago and describes desert warfare in the early days of airpower and before the largescale use of armour when men fought men as they did in Flanders, and when leaders rode or marched with their troops and did not sit behind computers.
although the historical accuracy has been questioned it remains primarily an adventure story and even if it is only based on facts rather than being a true account it remains a fantastic story with much to teach about the arab culture.
although the historical accuracy has been questioned it remains primarily an adventure story and even if it is only based on facts rather than being a true account it remains a fantastic story with much to teach about the arab culture.
April 21, 2016
Travel, camel patrols, Bedouins, combat, political intrigue, trains & explosives, and exploding trains; Lawrence’s book is full of adventure. It is a large work and takes quite some time to read, even reading the pruned later editions. But, it is neither the adventures, nor the length of the book that makes it so well known and loved, but the fact that Lawrence is a natural-born storyteller. His choice of words can be beautiful and flowing, and yet at times becomes so enmeshed in the details of everyday life on his journeys that it is possible to get bored with the minutia.
I won’t add to the words you will have to read if you pick up this book, but I will share a small sample in this widely popular quote from Seven Pillars of Wisdom:
"All men dream - but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity... But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." -T. E. Lawrence
I won’t add to the words you will have to read if you pick up this book, but I will share a small sample in this widely popular quote from Seven Pillars of Wisdom:
"All men dream - but not equally. Those who dream by night, in the dusty recesses of their minds, wake in the day to find that it was vanity... But the dreamers of the day are dangerous men, for they may act their dream with open eyes, to make it possible. This I did." -T. E. Lawrence
April 22, 2017
I read this longer ago than I care to remember and still it burns within me. It's an incredible book written by an enigmatically fascinating man. The opening paragraph (which I leave you to google at your leisure) is one of my favourites in all of literature, of any genre. I urge everyone, anyone, to read it.
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