Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

Charts one the most renowed campaigns of the First World War
Casts a new light on the campaign and those involved, in a move away from T. E. Lawrence-centred narratives
Brings together the experiences of twelve British officers and intelligence operatives for a fresh perspective on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt

Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

Description

T. E. Lawrence became world-famous as "Lawrence of Arabia" after helping Sherif Hussein of Mecca gain independence from Turkey during the Arab Revolt of 1916-18. His achievements, however, would have been impossible without the unsung efforts of a forgotten band of fellow officers and spies. This groundbreaking account by Philip Walker interweaves the compelling stories of Colonel Cyril Wilson and a colorful supporting cast with the narrative of Lawrence and the desert campaign. These men's lost tales provide a remarkable and fresh perspective on Lawrence and the Arab Revolt.

While Lawrence and others blew up trains in the desert, Wilson and his men carried out their shadowy intelligence and diplomatic work. His deputies rooted out anti-British soldiers who were trying to sabotage the revolt. Meanwhile, Lieutenant Lionel Gray, a cipher officer, provided a gateway into unknown aspects of the revolt through his previously unpublished photographs and eyewitness writings. Wilson's crucial influence underpinned all these missions and steadied the revolt on a number of occasions when it could have collapsed. Without Wilson and his circle there would have been no "Lawrence of Arabia."

Wilson's band mostly fell through the cracks of history into obscurity. Behind the Lawrence Legend reveals their vital impact and puts Lawrence's efforts into context, helping to set the record straight for one of the most beguiling and iconic characters of the twentieth century.

Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

List of Maps
A Note on the Text
Preface
1. 'Anything Could Happen in Such a Place'
2. 'A Town that Hung Heavy on the Soul'
3. 'A Vast Pan-Islamic Conspiracy'
4. Sharing a Cabin With Lawrence
5. Just Go On Sticking It
6. Camels and Secrets
7. Combat and Confusion
8. Sabotage, Golf, and Betrayal
9. Aqaba, the Arab Legion, and Jam Roly-Poly
10. Hopes and Fears
11. Great Escapes
12. 'Someone You Once Knew and a King'
13. Blood Brother of the Bedouin
14. Alarms and Excursions
15. Aqaba Calling
16. Fairy Godmothers to the Arab Revolt
17. 'Use Great Caution': The Curious Case of Agent Maurice
18. Endgame
19. Aftermath
Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Endnotes
Bibliography
Index

Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

Author Information

Philip Walker is a historian and a retired archaeologist who spent many years working for English Heritage. He has travelled in Libya, Palestine, Morocco, Xinjiang (the Muslim far west of China), and other parts of Central Asia. He lives in Cambridge and this is his first book.

Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

Reviews and Awards

"Provide[s] a more richly detailed and nuanced background than we have had till now to the unfolding of one of the most colorful theaters of World War I." --Anthony Sattin, Wall Street Journal

"A gripping account of the Arab Revolt as seen through the eyes of the men on the ground in Jidda. Walker has uncovered remarkable new documentation and photographs that shed valuable new light on the Great War in Arabia. An outstanding book for the centenary of the Revolt." -- Eugene Rogan, Director of the Middle East Centre, St Antony's College, Oxford

"An excellent and fascinating complement to Lawrence's Seven Pillars of Wisdom. It reveals the hidden stories of his brothers-in-arms and what they achieved during the Arab Revolt." -- Lawrence James, English Historian and Writer

Behind the Lawrence Legend

The Forgotten Few Who Shaped the Arab Revolt

Philip Walker

From Our Blog

The strange case of Colonel Cyril Wilson and the Jihadists

The aftermath of the Arab Revolt of 1916-18 and the settlement in the Middle East after the First World War still resonates, world-wide, after a century. It is not only the jihadists of the so-called Islamic State and other groups who rail against the Sykes-Picot Agreement'the secret arrangement between Britain, France, and Russia that carved up much of the territory of the Ottoman Empire. Many moderate Muslims have a rankling feeling of betrayal, being aware that Sykes-Picot contradicted the British promise'albeit a vague one'of a large independent territory for Sherif Hussein of Mecca, the leader of the Arab Revolt, if he would rise up against the Ottomans, Britain's wartime enemies.

Posted on April 6, 2018

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T.E. Lawrence and the forgotten men who shaped the Arab Revolt

T.E. Lawrence, known as 'Lawrence of Arabia," has provoked controversy for a hundred years. His legend was promoted in the 1920s by the American Lowell Thomas's travelogue; renewed in 1935 through his book Seven Pillars of Wisdom; and revived in 1962 by the epic film Lawrence of Arabia. The hype should not blind us to the fact that Lawrence's contribution to the Arab Revolt of 1916-18 against the Turks was indispensable.

Posted on February 26, 2018

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