Lawrence in Arabia: War, Deceit, Imperial Folly and the Making of the Modern Middle East

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1782392025 ISBN 13: 9781782392026

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2001

Lawrence of arabia is one of britain's most iconic historical figures and his story is central to this book. An enthralling narrative history that shows how colonialist plots during wwi were behind the formation of the modern middle east and ultimately led to the troubles that still afflict the region today, lawrence of arabia will soon be in the spotlight: robert pattinson will play lawrence in werner herzog's new film, queen of the desertand roland emmerich is working on a mini-series based on the life of lawrence. The arab revolt against the turks in world war one was, in the words of t.e. Lawrence, 'a sideshow of a sideshow'. Amidst the slaughter in european trenches, the western combatants paid scant attention to the middle eastern theater. As a result, the conflict was shaped to a remarkable degree by a small handful of adventurers and low-level officers far removed from the corridors of power. At the centre of it all was lawrence. In early 1914 he was an archaeologist excavating ruins in the sands of syria, by 1917 he was battling both the enemy and his own government to bring about the vision he had for the arab people. Operating in the middle east at the same time, but to wildly different ends, were three other important players, a german attaché, an american oilman and a committed zionist. The intertwined paths of these four young men - the schemes they put in place, the battles they fought, the betrayals they endured and committed mirror the grandeur, intrigue and tragedy of the war in the desert.

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, August 2013: Scott Anderson’s Lawrence in Arabia is a marvel of a history book. The research is impeccable. The story is fascinating and unforgettable. And the characters are so compelling that they seem to have been plucked from a novel. During World War I, the course of the modern day Middle East was set by a handful of young, low-ranking actors who exerted oversized influence on the region. Anderson focuses our attention on four men: a minor German diplomat and spy, an American oilman descended from the Yale family, a Romanian-born agronomist, and T.E. Lawrence himself. As we witness the western nations attempting to carve up a region that they were never able to master, these adventurous and often duplicitous men come to full life--none more so than Lawrence. The amount of research it must have taken to write this book is astounding. But there is no filler here: this is the kind of detail that causes the narrative to pop, that makes it live and breathe, and it will keep you reading long into the night. --Chris Schluep

About the Author:

Scott Anderson is a veteran war correspondent who has reported from Lebanon, Israel, Egypt, Northern Ireland, Chechnya, Sudan, Bosnia, El Salvador and many other war-torn countries. He is the author of two novels, Moonlight Hotel and Triage, two non-fiction books, The Man Who Tried to Save the World and The 4 O'Clock Murders, and co-author of War Zones and Inside the League with his brother Jon Lee Anderson.