Research & Discussion
General biography
Rejected legend
Youth 1888-1914
War service 1914-1918
Diplomacy 1918-1922
Service years 1922-1935
Lawrence's personality
Writings and criticism
Lawrence and book production
Film, TV, radio
Book reviews
Bibliography & Collecting
Obituaries
Discussion list
Review commentary by Jeremy Wilson on Lawrence,
the Uncrowned King of Arabia
by Michael Asher
(London, Viking, 1998)
previous page | Page 33 |
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Chapter 3: Nothing Which Qualified Him to be an Ordinary
Member of Society |
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| Ref: | "Evidence" | Was the alleged deceipt self- promoting? | Does it support Asher's case?" | Source reference? |
| 1 |
Bruce deception |
Not in the least | No: irrelevant and wrong period | None |
| 2 | "Enlistment tale" | Not in the least | No: L's scattered allusions do not constitute a 'tale' | None |
| 3 | "classical scholar" | Not in the least | No: a self-depreciating joke | Completely wrong |
| 4 | "War Office deception" | Not in the least | No: Lawrence was not even referring to himself. | None |
| 5 | camel/mule | Not in the least | No: Asher's argument is merely rhetorical | Correct |
| 6 | "hiding the truth" | Not in the least | No: used here out of context | Conceals context |
| 7 | wartime duplicity | Not in the least | No: the argument ignores important aspects of Lawrence's role. | None |
| 8 | "leg-pulling" | Not in the least | No: used here out of context | None |
| 9 | as (7) | Not in the least | No: as (7) | None |
| 10 | aptitude for deceit | Not in the least | No: used here out of context | Wrong |
| 11 | Storrs quote | Not in the least | No: quoted out of context | Completely wrong |
T. E. Lawrence chronology
1888 16 August: born at Tremadoc, Wales
1896-1907: City of Oxford High School for Boys
1907-9: Jesus College, Oxford, B.A., 1st Class Hons, 1909
1910-14: Magdalen College, Oxford (Senior Demy), while working at the British Museum's excavations at Carchemish
1915-16: Military Intelligence Dept, Cairo
1916-18: Liaison Officer with the Arab Revolt
1919: Attended the Paris Peace Conference
1919-22: wrote Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1921-2: Adviser on Arab Affairs to Winston Churchill at the Colonial Office
1922 August: Enlisted in the Ranks of the RAF
1923 January: discharged from the RAF
1923 March: enlisted in the Tank Corps
1923: translated a French novel, The Forest Giant
1924-6: prepared the subscribers' abridgement of Seven Pillars of Wisdom
1927-8: stationed at Karachi, then Miranshah
1927 March: Revolt in the Desert, an abridgement of Seven Pillars, published
1928: completed The Mint, began translating Homer's Odyssey
1929-33: stationed at Plymouth
1931: started working on RAF boats
1932: his translation of the Odyssey published
1933-5: attached to MAEE, Felixstowe
1935 February: retired from the RAF
1935 19 May: died from injuries received in a motor-cycle crash on 13 May
1935 21 May: buried at Moreton, Dorset