Lawrence of Arabia: The Authorized Biography of TE Lawrence

Jeremy Wilson. First edition, first printing. New York: Atheneum, 1990. Both unclipped dust jacket and hardcover are in Near Fine condition. No writing or markings found in the book, 1188 pp. 

An excellent copy. "Lively, readable, and often intensely absorbing, Lawrence of Arabia gives a profound insight into the development of this extraordinary man, both as seen through his own eyes and as witnessed by his contemporaries." Here then is the definitive life of one of the most talented and intriguing Englishmen of this century.

The book begins by describing Lawrence's promising Oxford childhood and the six seasons he spent at Carchemish in Northern Syria, one of the most important excavations ever undertaken by the British Museum. Then follows the story of Lawrence's important military and diplomatic roles during and after the First World War, never fully told before. Finally, the post-war years saw the consolidation of Lawrence's literary achievement, permitting an assessment of his own wish to be 'appraised rather as a man of letters than a man of action'. Jeremy Wilson's objective in Lawrence of Arabia is to provide readers with an accurate and balanced account of Lawrence's life. He has succeeded in full measure, producing a work of genuine scholarship, based on prodigious research, that dwarfs all previous biographies. It was inevitable that this authorised biography would contain a great deal that is new, but some of the material and conclusions are wholly unexpected.