TE Lawrence: Action man
http://enjoyment.independent.co.uk/books/features/article317983.ece
He was an enigma wrapped in Arab robes, a soldier who loved fighting
but who enjoyed listening to classical music at home. It is 70 years
since TE Lawrence was killed, says Mark Bostridge, yet the man who did
so much to shape the modern Middle East remains a mystery. Can such a
life ever be separated from its legend?
Published: 09 October 2005
I was 11 when I first confronted one of the most enduring images of the
20th century: an Englishman in Arab robes, galloping on a camel across
the plains of the desert. It was the early Seventies and I had entered
for the school history essay prize on Lawrence of Arabia. My father
kindly provided me with a copy of Richard Aldington's biography of
Lawrence, then available in a Pelican edition, to use as my chief
source. What neither he nor I realised was that Aldington's book, the
first serious debunking of Lawrence's heroism, had exploded like a time
bomb in military and literary circles 20 years before. Even now I can
remember all too well the suppressed outrage of some of the teachers at
the skewed point of view expressed in my essay. I didn't win the prize.
In the 70 years since his death at the age of 46, the figure of
Lawrence of Arabia has been enshrined in countless books, plays and
film scripts, so much so that it has become increasingly difficult to
separate the man from the legend. As Jeremy Wilson, Lawrence's
authorised biographer, once wrote, there are essentially "two quite
distinct Lawrences in existence". Attempts to tell them apart have
invariably resulted in storms of controversy and dissent.
T.E. Lawrence
http://groups.google.com/group/alt.atheism/msg/196b75f745d43b38
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