Lawrence of Arabia: The Man and the Motive

268 Pages·1962·14.96 MB·English

by  Nutting

The superb biography of the unconquerable,
self-driven T. E. Lawrence, one of the twentieth
century's most fascinating heroes ...." A
remarkable book ... more startling and contro
versia I than anything arrived at hitherto by
Lawrence's biographers." - LONDON SUNDAY TIMES
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THOMAS
EDWARD
LAWRENCE
wast hei llegiticmhaitloedf a n
Irisbha roneatn,d t hes tigmoaf
bastarldayyh eaviloyn t himsa n who
wast ob ecomoen eo ft he
mosto utstandfiignurge si n
recenhti story.
Whatc ompulsiodnr ovLea wrencae ,
studeonfta rchaeolotog gyr,as ph ihsi s­
toricr oleW?h y didh e rideacr oss
Arabia'esn dlessasn dhsu,d dilnenomad
tenttsh,es elf-aopipntEendg liesmhi s­
sarcyo nejrri ngs ecrewtiltyth h Aer abs?
Why didh es tortmh ec itadeolfst he
Englitsohp leatdh eA rabc austeoG en­
eral AllenHbowy ?d idh ee ndurcaep ­
turaen dt ortuirnDe e raaW?ha t untold
strengltehhd i mt oe scaapned u ltimate
victory?
Thisb iograptheyl hliss s tory­
thes toroyf a man whoa chievtehde
impossiabnldew ,h otu rned awayf rom
ther ewardosfh isl abowrh en
recognitwiaosan t h andr,e tiring into
theo bscurfirtoym w hichhe c ame
. may sterifioguusr teo t hel ast.
• •
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B.T.C.
LAWRENCE
OF
ARABIA
THE MAN AND THE MOTIVE
by Anthony Nutting
A SIGNET BOOK
PUBLISHED BY
'IllE NEW AMERICAN LmRARY
@ANTHONY NUTTIN G,1 961
All rightsr eserveNdo. parto ft hibso okm ay ber eproduced
in anyf orm withowuritt tepne rmissiforno mt hep ublisher.
Forinf ormationa ddreCslsa rksNo.n P otteIrn,c .,
56E ast6 6thS treeNte,w Y ork2 1,N ew York.
FIRSTPRIN TING, DECEMBER, 1962
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The authowri shest oe xprehisss t hanktsot hef ollowing:
ProfessA.or W . Lawrence
Dr. M. R. Lawrence
Mrs. EricK ennington
Dr. Ernest Altounyan
M. JeanB erauVdil lars
Sir AlecK irkbride
Mr.W renH oward
CaptaBinas ilL iddeHllart
ColonFe.l P eake
Mr.D aviGdarn ett
Mr.L owellT homas
TheRi ght Hon.T heL ordW ard
The authoarl saoc knowledwgietshg ratituthdee permissiono f
T.E .L awrencep'usb lishe(rsJ onatChaapne L,o ndonan,d Double­
day& Company, Inc.N,e w York)t oq uotfreo m TheL etteorfs
T.E .L awrencee,d itbeydD avid Garnett (Co1p9y38ri, g1h93t9
byD oubled&a Cyo mpany,I nc.an)d The SePvielnl oafrW sis dom.
A hardbouenddi tioofLn a wrenocfeA rabiisa p ublisbhyeC dl ark­
sonN .P otteIrn,c .
BJGNllT TB&DBHABK BBG. u.e.P AT. on . .lND .OBBION OOUNTB illl
BJllGIB'l'!IB111DT BADllHAB:S::-KABO.l BBIGIBTB.ADA
BBOBO BN OBIOAGO. D.B.A.
SIGNETB OOKS arep ublisbhye d
TheN ew AmericLainb raoryf W orlLdi teratIunrce.,
501 MadisoAnv enueN,e w York2 2,N ew York
PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA
CONTENTS
PROLOGUE 7
1 REVOLT IN ARABIA 14
2 IN SEARCH OF A PROPHET 19
3 LAWRENCE MEETS FEISAL 24
4 THE KINGMAKER'S DREAM 28
5 A TURKISH REVERSE 34
6 ADVANCE IN THE HEJAZ 41
7 WEJH CAPTURED 46
8 GATHERING THE TRIBES 51
9 ABDULLA DISAPPOINTS 59
10 GOING IT ALONE 63
11 AKABA CAPTURED 71
12 ALLENBY MEETS LAWRENCE 81
13 RAILWAY RAIDING 86
14 NORTH TO AZRAK 95
15 FAILURE AT YARMUK 101
16 CAPTURE AND TORTURE 108
17 BATTLE AT TAFILEH 114
18 ATTEMPTED ABDICATION 121
19 ADVANCE AND WITHDRAWAL 128
20 FEISAL DISOWNED 135
21 SELF-ANALYSIS 141
'
22 CLIPPING THE ENEMYS ARTERIES 147
23 MASSACRE AND COUNTER-MASSACRE 153
24 DAMASCUS 159
25 EXIT AND RE-ENTRY 169
26 CONFUSION IN CONFERENCE 175
27 A SYRIAN TRAGEDY 183
28 BACKING INTO THE LIMELIGHT 193
29 ATONEMENT IN ARABIA 198
" "
30 SEVEN PILLARS OF WISDOM 205
31 REDUCED TO THE RANKS 215
" "
32 PER ARDUA AD ASTRA 223
33 THE MOTIVE 230
BIBLIOGRAPHY 241
INDEX 243
oooooooooooooo�PROLOGUE
On 16th August 1888 at Tremadoc in Wales a second
son was born to a Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence. Named
Thomas Edward, he was in fact the illegitimate child
of Sir Thomas Robert Chapman, 7th Baronet of West­
meath in Ireland, who had left his wife and four
daughters to elope with the children's governess, a Miss
Sara Maden. Chapman changed his name to Law­
rence and moved from Ireland to Wales and from
then on he and Sara Maden lived together as husband
and wife.
Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence had five sons-B- ob
(M.R.), who became a medical missionary in China
until 1935, after which he devoted his life to looking
after his mother; Ned (T.E.), who became the legend­
ary and controversial "Lawrence of Arabia"; Will
(W.G.) and Frank (F.H.), who were killed in action
in World War I; and Arnold (A.W.), who became a
professor of archaeology at Cambridge and is today
T.E.'s literary executor. Bob, the eldest, and Arnold,
the youngest, are the only members of the family
still alive. T.E. died of injuries from a motor-cycle
accident in 1935, the father succumbed to the in­
fluenza epidemic in 1919 and the mother died in 1959
only two years short of a hundred years of age. T.E.
was a year old when the family moved to Scotland
and then later to the Isle of Man, Jersey and France.
When he was eight they finally settled in Oxford
where the boys were educated at the High School
and later at the University.
A precocious youngster known for his omnivorous
7
8 LAWRENCE OF ARABIA
reading, T .E. early acquired an interest in archaeology
and in such related subjects as ancient architecture,
heraldry, armour, old manuscripts, pottery and relics
of all kinds. Gradually his interest concentrated on
mediaeval castles and fortifications.
According to his own account, related in later years
to intimate friends, he was about ten years old when
his father told him the facts of his birth-that his
parents were not and could not be married, because
Lady Chapman would never consent to divorce her
husband. This discovery seems to have instilel d in T.E.
an obsession to prove himself better than his fellows,
to show that in spite of his background-which set
him apart from all his friends and associates.-he
could excel them in every way. This compulsion was
in part responsible for driving him throughout three
quarters of his life to make superhuman demands
upon his mind and body.
Yet the shadow of shame that, in this era of Vic­
torian morals, lay across the Lawrence family's
origins did not manifest itself in any way to the out­
side world, to which they gave the impression of being
a most respectable as well as affectionate and closely­
knit family. This was due in large part to Sara
Lawrence, a Scotswoman with an outstanding char­
acter, a commanding personality and an iron will
which T .E. inherited from her more than any other
of her sons. A tremendous puritan, Sara was haunted
throughout her life by the sin she had committed and
sought to make amends by bringing up her children
with love and affection but with the strictest disci­
pline, reinforced by regular attendance at church and
Sunday school.
The father, although a well-educated man, never
took up a job, being born and raised among the
squirearchy of Ireland to believe that his task in life
should be to devote himself to good family manage­
ment and a proper pursuit of sport in one form or
another. He was a keen yachtsman, and a crack shot.
In the latter part of his life he developed a craze for