Seven Pillars of Wisdom

£10.99

"Seven Pillars of Wisdom" recreates epic events with extraordinary vividness; for anyone enraptured by David Lean’s classic vision of this tumultuous time in Middle Eastern history, this book is an absolute must.

Although 'continually and bitterly ashamed' that the Arabs had risen in revolt against the Turks as a result of fraudulent British promises of self-rule, Lawrence led them in a triumphant campaign which revolutionized the art of war. In the words of E. M. Forster, 'Round this tent-pole of a military chronicle, T. E. has hung an unexampled fabric of portraits, descriptions, philosophies, emotions, adventures, dreams'.

During the Arab Revolt Lawrence kept many notes pertaining to his experiences, and began working them into a collected narrative in 1919; yet while changing trains at Reading railway station, he mislaid them inside a briefcase, never to be found again. A year later, he set about rewriting as much as he could from memory; thankfully the text was eventually self-published by Lawrence- unfortunately at a great cost, to the point of bankruptcy.

However flawed, Lawrence is one of the twentieth century's most fascinating figures. This is the greatest monument to his character and achievements.