With Lawrence in Arabia

by Lowell Thomas

Book

Status

Available

Call number

940.4

Genres

Publication

Hutchinson Pocket Library

Description

In 1918, as the First World War ravaged the European continent, young American journalist Lowell Thomas traveled to Arabia to report on the revolts breaking out as an indirect result of the savage European conflict. While in Jerusalem, he met and struck up a friendship with the young British captain, T.E. Lawrence. Based on his travels and interviews with Lawrence, Thomas wrote the now classic With Lawrence in Arabia, the book that spawned the Lawrence of Arabia legend and served as the basis for the award-winning 1961 film of the same name. Fantastically paced with equal measures of fact and adventure, Thomas narrates the exploits of the infamous British agent who against all odds managed to join several factious Arabian tribes into a single combat unit. With Lawrence in command, this guerilla force would go on to defeat the great Turkish Army and ensure the eventual demise of the previously impenetrable Ottoman Empire. On the sweeping and the exotic Arabian desert that serves as the setting for this epic account, Thomas brings to life dozens of great historical figures including Emir Feisel, King Hussein I of Hedjaz, British General Edmund Allenby, and Lawrence, the enigmatic, "modern knight of Arabia." With new forewords by modern explorers, this Explorer's Club Classic edition of With Lawrence in Arabia is a must-have for every history buff and arm-chair adventurer.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member MrsLee

At first this book struck me as hero worship, but the further I read, I realized that Lowell Thomas was reporting events, and there was no getting around the super-nature of T. E. Lawrence and his accomplishments. Lowell's style of journalism is a bit flowery, as was usual in his time. Though some

of his opinions seem harsh, that is how the Arabs and other races were perceived. He does a nice job of reporting facts and events, analyzing the significance of them and helping the reader to perceive the truth, whether it is flattering, harsh or beautiful. At times I was horrified by the nature of the Arabs and their ways, then, in the next chapter I would be moved to awe by their courage, stamina or philosophies. Lowell also tells about the other British soldiers who were in Arabia at the time helping to fight Turkey. A very interesting read, it was nice to have seen the movie, which seems to illustrate this book so well.

Show Less

1 more

LibraryThing member SandyAMcPherson

This biography of T. E. Lawrence does not stand up well in today's literature. Lowell's views of Arabs and their culture are reflective of the era prevailing at the time of writing. It's a very laudatory, somewhat biased view of Lawrence's participation in this history of the Arab revolt during

WWI.

Some mention of the other participants in fighting the Turkish occupants of the disputed area were interesting. Often the writing was overwhelmed with side events and turgid detail . Not to deny the fact that Lawrence wrote that way himself, especially in Seven Pillars of Wisdom. I prefer the story in Lawrence's own words, having read the abridged version of this history in T. E.'s book, Revolt in the Desert (published in 1927).

Show Less

Fewer