—David McCullough
“T. e. Lawrence is next to impossible to fix on the page. Yet Michael Korda has done so, delivering up a crowded, improbable life in a page-turning biography, every bit as rich as its protean subject. A splendid read.”
—Stacy Schiff, author of Cleopatra: A Life
“Michael Korda’s new biography of Lawrence of Arabia is bighearted and provocative—a page-turner that also helps us understand how the Middle east became the confused mess it is today. Hero is a magnificent achievement.”
—Nathaniel Philbrick, author of The Last Stand
“Much has been written about him, but no one has succeeded in illuminating the quintessential Lawrence of Arabia so profoundly and as well as Michael Korda. Hero is a work of brilliance, discernment, and meticulous scholarship that surely will be hailed as the gold standard.”
—Henry A. Kissinger
“Lawrence of Arabia, one of the great heroes of any age, has found the right b iographer in Michael Korda—a keen judge of the human condition and a master storyteller who can separate myth from reality without diminishing the grandeur of his subject.”
—evan Thomas, author of The War Lovers
“A magisterial biography. … Korda’s vivid portrait of Lawrence and his warring impulses captures the brilliance and charisma of this fascinating figure.”
—Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A splendid biography about a most unusual and extraordinary individual.”
—Hugh Thomas, author of The Spanish Civil War
ALSO BY MICHAEL KORDA
With Wings Like Eagles
Ike
Journey to a Revolution
Ulysses S. Grant
Marking Time
Horse People
Making the List
Country Matters
Another Life
Man to Man
The Immortals
Curtain
The Fortune
Queenie
Worldly Goods
Charmed Lives
Success
Power
Male Chauvinism
BY MARGARET KORDA AND
MICHAEL KORDA
Horse Housekeeping
Cat People
Illustration Credits
INTERIOR PAGES
Title page: top: National Portrait Gallery, London, bottom: courtesy of Kevin Kwan; page xx: “The Sword also Means Cleanness and Death,” front cover of Seven Pillars of Wisdom by T. E. Lawrence (published 1935) The Bridgeman Art Library; page 3: courtesy of Constable & Robinson Ltd; page 67: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin / estate of John David Roberts. By courtesy of the William Roberts Society; pages 75 and 97: the executors of Lady Liddell Hart, deceased; page 103: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q59193; page 108: by Eric Kennington, courtesy of the family of the artist; page 201: from No Golden Journey: Life of James Elroy Flecker by John Sherwood; page 213: (c)The British Library Board. All Rights Reserved 11/01/2010, Add.MS.50584ff.115; page 245: (c) Topham / The Image Works; page 304: by Sir Mark Sykes, with kind permission of Sir Tatton Sykes; pages 308 and 324: the executors of Lady Liddell Hart, deceased; page 338: by Eric Kennington, courtesy of family of the artist; page 369: the executors of Lady Liddell Hart, deceased; page 383: (c)Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust; page 431: courtesy of the Rolls-Royce Enthusiasts’ Club; page 441: by James McBey, Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM ART 2473; page 456: by Sir Mark Sykes, with kind permission of Sir Tatton Sykes; page 459: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q55581; page 464: from Lawrence of Arabia: The Life, the Legend by Malcolm Brown, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd; page 609: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.34r; page 636: from The Golden Reign by Clare Sydney Smith; page 665: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.71r; page 685: Collection, National Gallery of Ireland, (c)the artist’s estate, photo (c)National Gallery of Ireland.
PHOTOGRAPHIC INSERTS
COLOR
Page 1: (c)Tate, London 2010; page 2: top: (c)Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, bottom left: Ashmolean Museum, University of Oxford, bottom right: (c)Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust; page 3: top: (c)Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, bottom: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM ART 1553; page 4: top: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA, bottom: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM FIR 8255; page 5: top left: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM 1567, top right and bottom: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 6: top left: Harry Ransom Humanities Research Center, the University of Texas at Austin, top right: (c)Seven Pillars of Wisdom Trust, bottom: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 7: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 8: top: from The Arab Awakening by George Antonius, bottom: National Archives, U.K.
BLACK AND WHITE
Page 1: top: from A Prince of Our Disorder by John E. Mack, bottom left: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.2v, bottom right: from ”Lawrence of Arabia” by Jeremy Wilson; page 2: top: Gertrude Bell Photographic Archive, Newcastle University Archaeology Team, bottom: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 3: top: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA, bottom: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q58838; page 4: top: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q58754, bottom: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q58863; page 5: top: Imperial War Museum, Negative No. IWM Q12616, bottom: from Lawrence of Arabia: The Life, the Legend by Malcolm Brown, published by Thames & Hudson Ltd; page 6: top: Hulton Archive / Getty Images, middle and bottom: film stills, James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 7: top: Imperial War Musuem, Negative No. IWM Q59641; page 8: top: General Photographic Agency / Getty Images, bottom: (c) Mary Evans Picture Library / Douglas McCarthy / The Image Works; page 9: top and bottom: James A. Cannavino Library, Archives & Special Collections, Lowell Thomas Papers, Marist College, USA; page 10: top: Popperfoto / Getty Images, bottom: Ernest H Mills / Getty Images; page 11: top: Hulton Archive / Getty Images, bottom: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.83r/b; page 12: top left: photo by Sasha, from The Golden Reign by Clare Sydney Smith, top right: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.57r/a, bottom: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.64v; page 13: top: from The Golden Reign by Clare Sydney Smith, bottom: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, MS. Photogr.c.126, Fol.89v/b; page 14: Bodleian Library, University of Oxford, N. 22891 b. 5, sc00a06661; page 15: top: National Portrait Gallery, London, bottom: courtesy of family of the artist; page 16: (c) Hulton-Deutsch Collection / Corbis.
Copyright
HERO. Copyright © 2010 by Success Research Corporation.
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books.
EPub Edition © OCTOBER 2010 ISBN: 978-0-062-02367-4
FIRST EDITION
Photography and art consultant: Kevin Kwan
Research: Mike Hill
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Korda, Michael,
Hero: the life and legend of Lawrence of Arabia / by Michael Korda.—1st ed.
p. cm.
Includes bibli
ographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-06-171261-6
1. Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward), 1888–1935. 2. Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward), 1888–1935—Influence. 3. Lawrence, T. E. (Thomas Edward), 1888–1935—Legends. 4. World War, 1914–1918—Campaigns—Middle East. 5. World War, 1914-1918—Campaigns—Turkey. 6. Soldiers—Great Britain—Biography. 7. Great Britain. Army—Biography. 8. Middle East specialists—Great Britain—Biography. I. Title.
D568.4.L45K67 2010
940.4’15092—dc22
[B] 2010033189
10 11 12 13 14 ID/RRD 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
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Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia Page 89