If you have no idea what I'm talking about...I'm talking about Hero: The Life and Legend of Lawrence of Arabia by Michael Korda. I started talking here then here and I just keep going...
So, I told you I would tell you why I think T.E. Lawrence is a hero. First off, I have to say that it's much trendier these days to say that he was a self-centered narcissist, a two-faced manipulator, a no body accidentally made famous, and/or a repressed homosexual. (Has anyone noticed how everybody is supposedly a repressed homosexual these days? Go ahead--pick up any biography written in the last twenty years and you'll see what I'm talking about.) But I'm going old school like Korda. This guy was a hero.
Remember what I said about how Britain promised the Arabs an independent nation after the war if they would rise up against the Ottoman Empire but then the British signed a secret treaty with France promising to split the Middle East between the two of them? (It's actually much more complicated than that, but we'll go with the simplified version.)
Lawrence was instrumental in convincing the folks in charge that it was worth supporting the Arabs in a rebellion. He was very good at persuading those in authority (and collected contacts in high places better than Mary collects toe nails.) Lawrence wanted the Arabs to have their own united, independent nation. He had genuine respect and admiration for the Bedouin men with whom he served. Lawrence and Feisal, the commander of the Arab forces, had an unspoken plan that the capital of this new Arab nation must be Damascus (in Syria). As Lawrence made tactical and strategic decisions (he was brilliant with both tactical and strategic military planning and, yes, Greg I just used the words "tactical" and "strategic"), he never lost sight of his ultimate desire for the Arabs to take Damascus. Damascus would be the key.
At some point Lawrence surely learned about the Sykes-Picot agreement with France. Lawrence must have been racked with guilt, knowing that he was asking these men to die for nothing. He knew that Britain's continual promises were hollow, and he was deeply (deeply!) ashamed. So much so that at times he wondered how he could go on. Fesial, too, was most definitely made aware of the meanie treaty through his contacts, though he and Lawrence never spoke of it. But both Feisal and Lawrence understood, with new urgency, the importance of the Arabs taking Damascus--before the French got there, and even before the British got there. If the Arabs, and the Arabs alone, were to take Damascus, then they could claim it as their own. (Lawrence hoped this would give the British enough of a reason to back out of the Sykes-Picot agreement.)
So the race was on. The French would arrive from the north, but not for some time. It was British forces, coming from the south, who were on the path to take Damascus from the Turks. The British General Allenby's regular forces and Lawrence's rag-tag Arab army were on different but parallel courses to Damascus. General Allenby was not naive--he understood Lawrence's real intentions, but he did nothing to stop him. Allenby respected what Lawrence was trying to do. This is why I think Lawrence is a hero. He knew the Arabs would be wronged, and he was doing everything in his power to right it. There he was, pushing on through the harsh desert, racing to take Damascus first on behalf of the Arabs.
Now, it's a little unclear who "took" Damascus. The Turkish troops were already retreating by the time anyone arrived, so there was no resistance. Lawrence arrived on the same day as an Australian Light Brigade (whatever that is?). Feisal and his men arrived two days later. The Arab army had beat the bulk of Allenby's British troops. Feisal was immediately named King of Syria. Hooray! They did it!
And everyone lived happily every after.
Yeah, right. Soon the Picot-Sykes agreement came to light, the Allies won the war, Lawrence and Feisal attended the Paris Peace Conference to lobby for an independent Arab nation to no avail, Lawrence wrote a million letters to his friends in high places, the French showed up in Syria and killed bunch of people and took over, Lawrence got his pal Feisal a job as king of Iraq, Jordan was created so Feisal's brother would have a country to be king of too, and basically everything sucked and has ever since.
So Lawrence wrote a book, enlisted in the Air Force under an assumed name, and spent the rest of his life quietly building search and rescue boats and hanging out with D.H. Lawrence (like that's not confusing) and the Shaws until one day he wrecked his motorcycle and died.
The end.
It's hard to recommend a book that is so long and clearly intended for people with well-groomed white beards. But I will say that any book about T.E. Lawrence is likely a fascinating look at the morality of war from the political perspective as well as the personal. Korda does not shy away from the complexities and contradictions within Lawrence. But he ultimately views him as a hero...which is refreshing (even if it's not as trendy as Justin Beaver).
Phew. Topic closed. (Hey, doesn't every mommy blog need a little dysentery now and then?)
P.S. Don't you want one more picture?
Also, did you know you ride a camel side saddle?
P.P.S. If you should ever read this book, you don't need to read the whole thing. The only reason I didn't put it down after Damascus was because Korda kept saying that Lawrence did a really weird thing later in life but he never said what it was so I had to keep reading because how could I not with that carrot dangling in front if me? Yes, Lawrence did a really weird thing later in his life. If you want to know, I'll tell you what it was--it is pretty weird--and then if you read the book you only have to read half of it, or even less.
