A journey back in time through objects and locations into the life of one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated individuals.

A twentieth century icon, Lawrence of Arabia, as Thomas Edward Lawrence is more commonly known, spent thirteen out of his forty-six years in the region from which he drew his name. This was as a scholar researching his university thesis, a spy surveying Sinai for the British Army before the First World War, an intelligence officer in Cairo, a liaison officer to the Arabs, and as a diplomat who galvanised and united the Arab tribes into an effective fighting force. He became an explosives expert and a guerrilla fighter who influenced Arab leaders in defeating their Ottoman occupiers.

The story of his achievements in Arabia, derailing Turkish trains and attacking enemy strongholds, has become the stuff of legend. But his life after the disappointment of witnessing the Arabs being denied independence at the end of the First World War is as intriguing as his more famous escapades in the desert.

Uncomfortable with the fame and celebrity status that Lowell Thomas’s lectures brought upon him, after a brief tenure as a civil servant working for Winston Churchill in an attempt to address the failure of achieving Arab independence at the Cairo Conference, Lawrence, the former Lieutenant-Colonel, remarkably sought a life in obscurity. In the years after the war, for example, he served in the Royal Air Force as an aircraftsman and spent a brief period as a private in the Royal Tank Corps under the alias John Hume Ross or Thomas Edward Shaw. He became a competent marine motor mechanic, and was personally involved in the development of the fast RAF 200 Seaplane tender and an armored target boat. He also became a renowned author and could claim literary giants such as Thomas Hardy, E.M. Forster and George Bernhard Shaw as his friends.

In this highly illustrated book, the story of Lawrence’s fascinating life is explored through many of the places and objects associated with him, from his birthplace in Wales through to his grave at Moreton in Dorset. Lawrence of Arabia features his places of education in Oxford, sites where he served as a British Army intelligence officer in Cairo, as liaison officer and adviser to the Arabs, even where he fought alongside his Arab brothers against the Ottomans.

It also follows his life in the years after Arabia. Some of the fascinating locations Paul Kendall visits include RAF stations at Calshot and Bridlington, or the Tank Depot at Bovington Camp where he served in the ranks, his cottage at Clouds Hill and the homes of his famous friends that he frequently visited. The objects examined include Arab robes that he wore, his Khanjar, his service rifle, and even the Brough motorcycle which he enjoyed and valued.

This book is not just a journey across Arabia, Britain and Europe, but also a journey back in time through objects and locations into the life of one of Britain’s most enigmatic and celebrated individuals.

• Cover
• Title
• Copyright
• Contents
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction
• 1. Snowdon Lodge, Tremadog, Wales
• 2. No. 2 Polstead Road, Oxford
• 3. Bungalow in the garden at No. 2 Polstead Road, Oxford
• 4. City of Oxford High School for Boys & Lawrence Memorial
• 5. Château Gaillard, Normandy
• 6. Jesus College, Oxford
• 7. Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
• 8. Map of Syrian tour drawn by T.E. Lawrence
• 9. Krak des Chevaliers, Syria, photographed by T.E. Lawrence
• 10. Hotel Baron, Aleppo, Syria
• 11. Lawrence’s camera
• 12. Drawing of the Mound of Carchemish by T.E. Lawrence
• 13. Sculpture of T.E. Lawrence and Dahoum
• 14. Petra, Jordan
• 15. The War Office, Whitehall, London
• 16. Grand Continental Hotel, Cairo, Egypt
• 17. Headstone of Second Lieutenant Will Lawrence
• 18. Savoy Hotel, Cairo, Egypt
• 19. The Hejaz Flag
• 20. Lawrence’s House, Yenbo, Saudi Arabia
• 21. Short Magazine Lee Enfield (SMLE) Mark III Rifle owned by Lawrence of Arabia
• 22. Arab robes and sandals worn by Lawrence of Arabia
• 23. Lawrence of Arabia’s Khanjar
• 24. Painting of HMS M31
• 25. The Hejaz Railway Line
• 26. A Derailed Train
• 27. Lawrence of Arabia’s map showing route to Akaba
• 28. Fort Akaba, Jordan
• 29. Lawrence’s kaffiyah, robes and jambiya
• 30. Companion of the Order of the Bath
• 31. RFC B.E.2c Aircraft
• 32. HMS Humber
• 33. Wadi Rumm, Jordan
• 34. Lawrence’s Spring at Wadi Rumm
• 35. Mudowwara, Jordan
• 36. Tell el Shebab Railway Bridge
• 37. Qasr al-Azraq, Jordan
• 38. Lawrence of Arabia’s room at Qasr al-Azraq
• 39. Jaffa Gate, Jerusalem
• 40. Distinguished Service Order
• 41. Sykes-Picot Agreement Map
• 42. Blue Mist
• 43. Victoria Hotel, Damascus, Syria
• 44. Buckingham Palace, London
• 45. Quai d’Orsay, Paris
• 46. Hotel Majestic, Paris
• 47. Portrait of Colonel T.E. Lawrence
• 48. Hall of Mirrors, Palace of Versailles, France
• 49. Handley Page O/400 Aircraft
• 50. Royal Opera House, London
• 51. Royal Albert Hall, London
• 52. All Souls College, Oxford
• 53. Colonial Office, Whitehall, London
• 54. Semiramis Hotel, Cairo, Egypt
• 55. Groppi’s, Cairo, Egypt
• 56. Photograph of T.E. Lawrence, Emir Abdullah and Winston Churchill
• 57. Jeddah Doors, Ashmolean Museum
• 58. No. 14 Barton Street, London
• 59. No. 4 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London
• 60. St Andrew’s Gate, Uxbridge
• 61. RAF Uxbridge Rifle Ranges
• 62. RAF School of Photography, Farnborough
• 63. Bovington Tank Range, Dorset
• 64. Lulworth Cove, Dorset
• 65. Shaw’s Corner, Hertfordshire
• 66. Max Gate, Dorchester
• 67. Clouds Hill, Dorset
• 68. Music Room, Clouds Hill
• 69. Book Room, Clouds Hill
• 70. Anglebury House, Wareham, Dorset
• 71. RAF Cranwell, Lincolnshire
• 72. No. 3 Steep Hill, Lincoln
• 73. Lawrence of Arabia’s Brough Superior RK 4907
• 74. Proof Copy of Seven Pillars of Wisdom
• 75. T.E. Lawrence’s typewriter
• 76. Revolt in the Desert
• 77. SS Rajputana
• 78. Press photograph of T.E. in clandestine disembarkation from SS Rajputana
• 79. Lobby of the House of Commons
• 80. Hanger at the RAF Flying Boat Station, Mount Batten, Plymouth
• 81. Photographs of Aircraftman T.E. Shaw
• 82. RAF Calshot, Hampshire
• 83. Model of ‘Biscayne Baby’ Speedboat named Biscuit
• 84. Chartwell House, Kent
• 85. Mount Batten Breakwater, Plymouth Sound
• 86. Seaplane Tender 206
• 87. Studio Portrait of T.E. Lawrence
• 88. Myrtle Cottage, Shore Road, Hythe, Hampshire
• 89. Pole Hill, Chingford
• 90. RAF Felixstowe, Suffolk
• 91. Cartoon of Lawrence in John Bull
• 92. First Edition of The Mint
• 93. Lawrence of Arabia Sundial Memorial, Bridlington
• 94. Ozone Hotel, Bridlington
• 95. Bridlington Spa Pavilion, Bridlington
• 96. Photograph of Lawrence on the day he left the RAF
• 97. Bunk Room, Clouds Hill
• 98. Lawrence of Arabia’s Brough Superior SS100, Registration GW 2275
• 99. Lawrence of Arabia Accident Site Memorials
• 100. Bovington Camp Hospital, Dorset
• 101. St Nicholas Church, Moreton, Dorset
• 102. Lawrence of Arabia’s Funeral Bier
• 103. Lawrence of Arabia’s Grave
• 104. Bronze Bust of Lawrence, Crypt, St Paul’s Cathedral
• 105. Recumbent Effigy of Lawrence of Arabia
• 106. Programme for the motion picture Lawrence of Arabia
• Notes
• Bibliography
• Photo Credits